The Great Witch Rebellion
by tears-in-rain
Summary: Season 1 Alternate Ending: It was over. The Last Princess of Sparx had failed. The Trix Sister's and their Army of Decay had conquered Alfea. The Realm of Magix was theirs. All canon parings. WARNING: few OC's & moments of gore.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: **__Hello all. Long time no . . . type? _

_Yes, in contrast to popular belief I have not disappeared off the face of the planet. I just fell into a bit of a lull with my writing over the last few years but at the start of this year I did something that changed everything; I quit my job so I could go and study nursing (like people nursing). And as it turns out I'm still as easily distracted from my studies as I was in high school when I began a lot of my other stories. _

_I'm still stuck on my third installment of my 'Brothers' series but I always have a few side projects going that I can escape to when I hit a bit of writers block. Something small and easy to loose myself in for a little bit and get the juices going again. This story here is one of those projects. I had the idea back when I was writing the final chapters of my 'Brothers At Arms' story but it didn't ready calcify until I went and saw the stage show Wicked back in 2010. Since then I've been working it on and off, but it wasn't until the start of this year that I really got it._

_And man oh man did it grow out of control. My little side project is now over two hundred pages long and like twenty-one chapters plus an epilogue (which I still need to finish). I'm still editing chapters but I will try to get them uploaded on a regular basis. _

_So I guess I should just get on with my story. It's an alternative ending to season one but eventually ties into the canon beginning of season two. Enjoy!_

* * *

**The Great Witch Rebellion**

**By tears-in-rain**

**Chapter One **

It was over. The Last Princess of Sparx had failed. The Trix Sister's and their Army of Decay had conquered Alfea. The Realm of Magix was theirs.

The teachers of the three schools were all imprisoned in the dungeons of Cloud Tower, which now belonged to Icy who spent her days preparing for the next phase in her plan to enslave the Magical Universe. Darcy resided at Red Fountain so that she could reinforce her rule over their newly acquired dragon cavalry. The dragons were a vital part of Icy's plans for total domination, so Darcy needed to be certain that she had complete control over the hypnotised heroes that she had 'recruited' to ride them. The final Trix, Stormy, had remained at Alfea to oversee the remaining students they had captured in the final battle. She also had been tasked with encouraging the prisoners to enlist themselves into aiding the Trix, usually by means of torture.

And finally, the Army of Decay had been turned out to roam freely throughout the forest surrounding the schools and Lake Crysalous. It would then suck all the nutrients out of the landscape and turn it to rot, thus expanding the size of the Army. The Army would need the extra strength and numbers for when the Trix would lead them out of Magix and turned their attack on another realm. The rot monsters were also ordered to capture any Alfea, Red Fountain or Cloud Tower students who had escaped during the final battle and return them to Stormy to deal with.

The Trix Sisters had conquered the Realm of Magix and there was no one powerful enough to oppose them.

* * *

Prince Sky of Eraklyon was utterly exhausted, but he didn't dare slow down. Stopping just wasn't an option. He needed to get as far way from Alfea and the Army of Decay as possible and that meant running full pelt through the undergrowth of the woods. The fact that he – a hero in training – was knowingly fleeing from a fight was so cowardly that it made him sick to his stomach, but he knew that it was the only choice open to him at the moment so he just kept running no matter how much his legs burned.

It had been clear the moment that the Trix and the Army of Decay had gained the upper hand. Darcy and Stormy had joined their power and took down both Ms. Faragonda and Miss Griffin, and then Saladin had been no match for the two witches on his own. Codatorta and Griselda tried to hold things together, but then Icy had returned from her one-on-one battle with Bloom and it was all over. There was nothing anyone could do to stop them. No one had the power to stand up to just one of them, let alone the three combined. And that's when the Alfea-Red Fountain-Cloud Tower alliance fell apart.

Most of the students were captured immediately but there were a few that had managed to escape into the trees, running blindly find someplace to hide. Sky had no idea where he was going but he did know two things; one, he wasn't safe yet so he couldn't stop running, and two, he must not let go of the slim, feminine hand that was tightly holding onto his. No matter what happened, he couldn't let her go. He had lost track of everyone else – his friends, his classmates, his teachers – and he was not going to lose her. As far as he knew, she was the only friendly face he had left and he was ready to die before he let anything happen to the fairy.

"C'mon! Don't stop!" he panted. He really didn't have the energy to talk, but he could hear the fairy's sobbing breaths and he could feel her begin to slow down so he knew she needed the encouragement. He couldn't afford to look back at her – the ground was too uneven and there were far too many trees for him to try and chance it – but he was well aware of how tired she was. She had transformed out of her winx form well before he had grabbed her and dragged her into the woods so she no longer had the energy to conjure up enough magic to zap a mosquito let alone a rot monster. Sky needed to get her to safety.

Sky had no idea how long they had been running but it felt to him like days. However, it must have only been a few hours because the sun had just started to set when the fight had turned and now night had truly fallen, the moon hidden behind the thick cloudbank that covered the realm. With the darkness and the uneven ground, the two teenagers tripped and stumbled over countless unseen obstacles, but Sky didn't slow their pace. They had to get away. They had to survive.

"Sky . . . please . . . Slow down," the fairy begged. She was exhausted and could barely keep up with the fit, young hero. She had no control over her legs and was literally just being dragged along behind him so it was inevitable when she tripped and wasn't able to recover. Instead, she crashed painfully down onto the forest floor. Her hand was ripped free from Sky's in the fall and it took him a few seconds to slow down enough so he could go back for her. She made no effort to get up on her own accord.

"Come on, we've got to keep going," Sky stressed, crouching down in front of the fairy to try and drag her to her feet without sucess.

"I can't . . . I can't . . ." the fairy sobbed, her long, bright hair falling in front of her face and her body shaking from exhaustion.

"You have to. We can't stop. We've got to keep moving, now get up," Sky begged, but she continued to lie facedown, crying on the cold, dirty ground. Sky's whole body ached to see her like that. This wasn't the fairy he knew. This wasn't the same bright, cheerful girl who always brought fun and laughter into his life. This was a sad, beaten and broken version of a girl he adored but he was going to protect her from everything, including her own dark thoughts if need be. "Stella, please. Get up."

"No," Stella cried. "W-We have to go back."

"We can't. We've got to keep moving until we find somewhere safe," Sky reminded her, trying to get her up but she was dead weight in his arms. "Come on, Stella."

"We have to go back. They've got Flora. I saw them take her," Stella told him. The Princess of Solaria was so tried and upset that she was getting hysterical as the images of those last few minutes of the final battle flashed across her mind. "One of the rot monsters had Mirta and Flora tried to help her but then . . . but then . . . We have to save her. We've got to go find Flora!"

"We can't!" Sky said firmly, grabbing hold of Stella's shoulders and forcing her to look at him. Her flawless face was filthy and her hair was messy and damp with sweat but what stood out most for Sky were her wide, tearful eyes. They weren't the cheerful honey coloured eyes he was used to looking at. These ones had a sad, defeated look to them that made the girl look like a complete stranger. "There is nothing the two of us can do to help her right now. We have to save ourselves first before we can think about the others."

"What?" Stella gasped in horror at what he was suggesting. "We can't just abandon our friends!"

"We're not. We're just surviving long enough so that we can help them as soon as it's possible. We can't do anything now, but I swear, as soon as I'm able I'm going to bring the full force of Eraklyon's armies down on those witches, and I'm sure you're going to want Solaria in on that action as well."

"Those damn witches. I hate them! I hate all witches!" Stella shouted in an exhausted sounding voice. "Even the ones that were on our side betrayed us. Did you see them? They were the first ones to run away. We could have won if those cowards hadn't bolted."

"We can't waste our time thinking about what could have happened. We need to keep moving," Sky told her again.

"I can't. I'm too tired. Just go on without me."

"No! I'm not leaving you. I've lost track of too many people tonight. I'm not losing you."

Stella started to cry again at that point. "Bloom? Where is she?"

"I don't know," Sky answered her, his voice strained. The last he had seen of Bloom was her going off the fight Icy one-on-one. Icy had returned from that fight, but there had been no sign of the Last Princess of Sparx. Sky heart ached at the unknown, but he forced himself not to think about it. He was of no use to anyone if he went to pieces thinking about his missing friends and right now he needed to look after Stella. He owed Brandon and Bloom that much. "C'mon. I need you to climb onto my back. I'll carry you for a bit if you can't walk any further."

It took some time and effort, but eventually Sky managed to get Stella onto his back and at as fast a pace that he could manage, he took off again into the night. Stella lay limply on his back, her head resting on his shoulder and Sky could tell from the sound of her breathing that she was going to fall asleep soon. However, before she did finally give into exhaustion, she whispered five words that Sky heard clearly.

"I wish Brandon was here."

'_So do I, Stella,'_ Sky thought. _'So do I.'_

* * *

Unlike Cloud Tower and Red Fountain, Alfea didn't really have any rooms that could be referred to as a dungeon, so Stormy had been forced to remodel a few of the classrooms to suit her needs. The walls and floor had been transformed into cold stone and the large windows had been removed so the room was plunged into darkness. Stormy had created a permanent storm over Alfea and the rain had seeped through the stones, making the cell cold and damp. Lightning crashed closely outside every few seconds, making it difficult for any of the prisoners to find sleep even though they were all utterly exhausted. In one corner of the room was one empty bucket that purposes was fairly obvious to everyone and humiliating as it was, they had no choice but to use it. Stormy had even gone so far as the import rats into the cells, just to give it that extra touch.

Flora could not remember a time when she had been colder or more miserable. She had managed to find a relatively dry patch of wall, but it was still bitterly cold and she couldn't stop shivering. The short skirt and top she wore gave little warmth dry let alone damp and her feet were bare since she had lost both her shoes at some point during her capture. Her entire body ached – both physically and emotionally – because like with all of the prisoners, the rot monsters had not treated her gently when they had knocked her down, dragged her to the cells and thrown inside. Along with the dirt and other filth that smeared her skin, large purple bruises covered her body in patches and that, more than anything, made her feel used and feeble.

And then there was the ache in her heart that was for her friends . . .

"Flora?" a small voice whispered, breaking the flower fairy out of her brooding thoughts.

"Mirta," Flora acknowledged. The poor witch had been through hell this year and it had only gotten worse. Even in the dark, Flora could tell that she had been crying. "How are you holding up?"

"Not well," Mirta sniffed, answering honestly. She no longer that the energy to even try and pretend to be strong.

"Stupid question, huh?" Flora smiled weakly, glancing around the room. Stormy must have several cells because there were only seven other prisons cramped into their cell. They were all girls with only two of them – Mirta and Lucy – being witches. There had been a few boys from Red Fountain in the beginning, but then Darcy had come through and taken them with her some place. Flora had thought she had seen Riven as she had been dragged through Alfea's hallways, but that could have easily been some other red haired boy. She had no idea where he – or any of her friends for that matter – were and she found that more unbearable that the cold.

There was a long silence before either of them spoke again, and when they did, Mirta's voice was so soft that it could only just be heard over the sound of lightning crashing outside. "Hey, F-Flora?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think . . . Do you think anyone out there is trying to rescue us? You know, like people from other realms?" Mirta asked, voicing the hope that every student was silently praying for.

"Um . . ." Flora trailed off as she gave the question some thought. She had been so focused on trying to save Alfea over the last few days that, as ridiculous as it may sound, she had forgotten that there was a universe out there. Surly someone would have noticed that the City of Magix – the centre of the Magical Universe – had been overrun and all its citizens enslaved. Someone would come looking for them. Help would come.

But how long would it take? Tecna had tried to contact her parents during one of the quiet moments in between battles, but none of her communication had been able to transmit through the unnatural cloudbank that covered the realm. The clouds also made it difficult for ships to pass through as the boys discovered when they had flown to Sparx to pick up her and the rest of the Winx Club. They had managed to get through the clouds, but if they had attempted it on a later date they wouldn't have made it.

All of a sudden, Flora felt very much alone, but she didn't want Mirta to worry.

"Yeah. I'm sure someone will come."

Even through neither of them commented on it, they both knew she was lying.

* * *

Earlier that year, the Winx Club and the Red Fountain heroes had spent a whole day trudging through the Black Mud Swamp in search of the big, blue hunter troll that had attacked Bloom back on Earth, and ever since that day Brandon had sworn he would never set foot near the swamp again. And yet here he was, knee deep in the whole stinking mess of it while thousands of tiny, biting insects tried to relieve him of the burden of having blood pass through his blood vessels.

"God, I hate this damn swamp," the squire hissed through clenched teeth.

The light of dawn didn't make it any more appealing, not that there was much light to begin with. The cloudbanks Stormy had created blocked out the sun almost completely. It was still possible to tell the difference between day and night, but trying to determine the difference between dawn, noon and dusk was out of the question. The pale, gloomy light added to Brandon's miserable mood even more so than the swamp water that had somehow managed to find its way into his boots, and then he suddenly realised that his memories of the Black Mud Swamp didn't do it justice.

It was a whole lot worse.

"Well Brandon, you've sure done it now," Brandon said out loud to himself. "Run all night with no idea where you're going. Yeah, great idea. Now you're stuck out here with no food, no water – well, drinkable water – and no dry clothes. Brilliant. Things can't get any worse that this."

He should have kept his mouth shut because Fate, with her weird and twisted humour, decided to prove just how wrong he could be. Blinded by frustration, Brandon stomped forward to try and find solid ground. He had taken only two steps when he foot suddenly snagged on an unseen root, causing him to crash face first down into the sludgy water. His clothes were now utterly saturated, he could taste the foul water on his tongue and he was regretting growing his fringe so long as it was currently plastered to his face.

"Gods, just kill me now," Brandon begged, spitting the swamp water out of his mouth.

Fate wasn't through mess with him and his comment was answered by the shriek of one of the flying stingrays that made up the air faction of the Army of Decay. Scanning the overcast sky, Brandon couldn't make out any visual contact with the winged rot monsters, but as more shrieks filled the air the squire knew that they were definitely getting close. Getting to his feet as quickly as he could on the soggy ground, Brandon sloshed through the swamp to a grove of vine-covered trees.

Ducking under the cover of the treetops, Brandon was able to remain hidden as a group stingrays swarmed overhead. Stormy had probably sent them out to look for any students – like Brandon – who had escaped the final battle, but Brandon had to question the fertility of sending out scouts who didn't appear to have any eyes. They probably had other senses that they used to see but that didn't stop Brandon for feeling rather foolish as he hid himself away. Then the flying stingrays screamed again and Brandon shuttered as he remembered just how dangerous those things really were.

"Why couldn't I just have to deal with end of year exam like any normal student?" Brandon muttered to himself as soon as the flying stingrays passed. Every other school in the universe would have finished their exam and would probably be having prom at this time of year, but instead the three schools in Magix were spending their end of school year either running for their lives or trapped in the Trix Sisters dungeons.

Irrationally, Brandon suddenly resented the fact that Red Fountain was located in the Realm of Magix. If it had been in another realm, like say Eraklyon, there would have been other options for them to retreat to when the battle had turned in favour of the Trix Sisters. Magix, on the other hand, was mostly made up of acres and acres of woodland, which meant there wasn't any kind of fortresses where they could go to and take a defensive stance.

Brandon was alone in a wild, untamed realm. He had no idea where anyone – both friends and enemies – were and for the first time in his life, he felt completely and utterly lost.

And it was barely even breakfast time.

* * *

_Interesting? TBC . . . _

_Also I wanted to give a quick apology to all the people who have PM'ed me over the years. I honestly didn't mean to ignore them but when I changed my email address the new account thought they were spam. Still, I feel kinda slack so here's a really belated sorry._


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:**__ Wow, thanks to all of you that gave me such a kind welcome back. It's weird 'cause I haven't physically gone anywhere (except for those few weeks I spent in Europe and the USA) but all your comments made me feel like I was some hometown hero coming back. That kinda makes me sound arrogant but I can't think of another way to describe it. It was all actually very humbling so thank you._

_This chapter's a little bit slow but that's what I wanted to capture in this story. They're all supposed to be isolated, separated and have no idea what they're supposed to do next. I thought it'd be challenging to strip them all of their sense of power and see how they cope with that helplessness. That's probably why this story grew so much bigger than I was expecting; I kept dragging out their powerlessness. _

_Oh it should probably do this; __**WARNING: torture scene ahead. **__I personally don't think it's that full on but I figured I should give you all a heads-up anyway. Cheers._

* * *

**Chapter Two **

In the dungeons of Alfea, time seemed to stop. The lack of windows made it impossible to determine the time of day and meals were so infrequent that everything became an endless stretch of hunger and darkness. And even though the last time she had been able to get some proper rest was during the flight back from Sparx, Flora wasn't able to find any sleep. Instead, like most of the other girls who shared her cell, she sat slumped against the wall in a numb, dazed-like state. Her green eyes were blank and unseeing and her body was stiff from the cold.

It was almost impossible for her to recall a time that she had been happy. Everything about this place sucked every pleasant thought out of her and it was easy to forgot that this was the same building where she had had the best year of her young life. In some darkened corner of the cell, someone was sobbing quietly but Flora's eyes remained dry. She was beyond tears. Even though others had told her that none of this was her fault, she still felt that the blame still fell on her and her friends. They were the ones that Ms. Faragonda and the others had hung their hopes on when the Winx Club was sent to Sparx and they had come back empty handed. In Flora's eyes, that was the beginning of the end.

A heavy depression had descended on the flower fairy and it left her completely numb to her surroundings. In fact, she was the only one who didn't jump when the door to their cell suddenly burst open and a harsh light spilled into the room. Even though all the prisoners had been praying for that door to open, they all scrambled weakly away from it now because standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the light behind her, was Stormy. Two massive Red Fountain seniors flanked the weather witch on either side and the vacant look in their eyes told everyone that Darcy had tampered with their minds before she handed them over to her sister.

With her hands on her hips and a callous smirk on her face, Stormy strode into the cell, feeling a sharp thrill as the fairies and witches at her mercy cowered away from her. Well, all except for one. Flora hadn't reacted to Stormy arrival but the witch was in too good of a mood to let that annoy her. Instead, her smirk widened as she observed the fairy, whose face was completely blank save for a flutter of hatred in her green eyes.

"Take her to my office," she ordered the two spelled heroes that were standing in the doorway. "I'm going to have a little fun with her."

"No. You can't," a small voice protested. A few months ago Mirta would have never purposely drawn one of the Trix's attention but the Winx Club – Flora in particular – had been so kind to her over the last few days that she couldn't just sit back and let Stormy torture her. However, the second Stormy's turquoise eyes fixed on her, her courage dissolved and she flinched backwards.

"Oh really?" Stormy asked and the air surrounding her was suddenly electric, causing her hair to lift slightly. "And who's going to stop me, _hmm_?"

Mirta's only reply was a small, pathetic whimper.

"I thought as much. C'mon boys. Grab that loser and let's go," Stormy ordered, turning on heel and marching out of the cell without a backwards glance. The vacant eyed heroes moved forward and seized Flora by either arm and dragged her to her feet.

"Let me go!" Flora shouted, trying to rip her arms free for the seniors grasp, but the boys were too strong for her. Even though she couldn't get away from the senior heroes she refused to let herself be defeated. Raising her chin high, she stared straight forward and said firmly, "I can walk on my own."

Ignoring the stiffness in her legs, Flora walked out of the cell with the mind controlled heroes still gripping her arms. With a loud bang, the door to the dungeon slammed shut but Flora kept staring straight ahead as he made her way through the halls of what once was her school towards Ms. Faragonda's former office.

Flora had been in the headmistress's office a few times over the year, but never had it looked this. Stormy's interior design technique was definitely unique . . . and not in a good way. The large windows had all been shattered, allowing powerful gusts of wind to blow into the room. The bookshelves that lined the room had been ransacked and the ripped pages swirled around the room in small wind funnels. The expensive rug that covered the floor was soaked with rain and the desk that Ms. Faragonda usually sat behind was scorched by lightning marks. And perched upon it, wearing a wicked smile, was Stormy.

"Like what I've done to the place?" Stormy asked as the door were blown shut by a strong gust of wind. The two heroes threw Flora forward so that she was standing in front of the charred desk and the witch sitting on it.

"It's something to be desired," Flora muttered sarcastically. She refused to cower before the witch she had spent the last year opposing. The Winx Club may have lost the battle, but Flora would be dead before she gave up completely.

"You've got a lot of guts for someone who's at my utter mercy."

"I refuse to be intimated by you, Stormy."

"It's Headmistress Stormy," the witch corrected, "and you will. I have nothing but time to kill as Icy and Darcy prepare for the next stage of our uprising and since the rest of your loser friends' are either running like cowards or dead that means I only have you to entertain myself with."

At the mention of her friends Flora had to clench her jaw together tightly to stop any emotion showing on her face. Her friends weren't cowards and she refused to believe that they were . . . They were all out there, trying to figure out a way to save her and stop the witches, just like they always do. All she had to do stay strong until help came. "You won't break me."

"Oh, I hope not. At least, not right away," Stormy smirked. At her silent command, the two mind controlled heroes grabbed the fairy and forced her down on the ground. Her shrieks of protest fell on deaf ears and it wasn't long until she was on her back with the two boys on either side, holding her down. Stormy could see the wild panic in the fairy's bright eyes and she couldn't hide her delight as she hoped off the desk and practically skipped over to stand behind her head. "I need to work on my interrogation technique so I'd be disappointed if you cracked straight away. I want this to be as long and drawn out as possible."

"Let me go, Stormy!" Flora shouted, finding it difficult to keep the panic out of her voice. One of the boys then forced a piece of cloth into her mouth to gag her and try as she might, Flora couldn't get enough air to spit it out.

"Not likely," Stormy _scoff_ed. "Tell me, loser, have you ever heard of water boarding?"

Flora didn't even try to answer her. She had heard the term once or twce in the media but she didn't know much about the practice. All she knew was that it was a torture technique and that was enough to cause her eyes to widen in terror. Above her face Stormy stood with her hands shoulder width apart, her finger turned inwards so they looked horrible and crawl-like. The wind in the office picked up and lightning crashed both inside and outside, but none of that was as terrifying as the malicious glint in Stormy's eyes as a small rain cloud formed in the space between her hands. Although small, the cloud was incredibly dark – black even – due to the amount of water it held and it almost seemed to quiver, waiting for the chance to release itself.

"You'll be pleased to know that it's quite rare for someone to actually die from water boarding; it just _feels_ like you're dying," Stormy told Flora as she thrashed helplessly and tried to spit out the gag, but all her efforts seemed futile. "Normally, if you use enough water, you don't need a rag, but I'm still haven't properly mastered the ability to contain the correct volume of water in one small cloud. But don't worry, I have plenty of time and prisoners to practice it on 'til I perfect it."

Flora didn't understand half of what Stormy was talking about, but it all became very clear when the tiny storm cloud opened and rain fell down heavily on her face. The cloud couldn't have held much water – a quart or so at the most – but to Flora it felt like gallons. The water soaked into the rag, which in turned swelled to fill her entire mouth and still the rain continued to fall. Water started to slide down the back of her throat as Flora thrashed, but the heroes held her down. She wanted to cough and spit out the rag, but she couldn't get any air. All she could do was lay there as her lungs burned and her mind flooded in panic.

'_Oh god! I'm dying!' _Flora's mind screamed but just when she thought she was going to drown the rain ceased and Stormy pulled the rag out of her mouth. Gulping down sweet air so quickly, Flora choked and started to cough. Above her, the statue-like heroes still held her down and Stormy smirked in an evil kind of amusement.

Stormy was right; it did feel like dying, only worse. It was like being pushed to the point where the terror and panic became so much that she _wished_ for death only to be pulled back again so that her tormenter could continue her wicked game at a later date.

"Pretty impressive, huh?" Stormy smirked as Flora continued to gasp. "And just think; we're only just getting started."

* * *

Brandon's day was spent trudging through swamp water and ducking out of sight from any bands of flying stingrays that happened to pass overhead. Stealth movements wasn't Brandon's favourite way to travel – especially when he was knee deep in swamp water – but if it kept him from being located by any of the Army of Decay he was willing to do it. Of course, that didn't mean he had to like it.

"What I wouldn't give for a pair of dried socks," Brandon groaned, climbing over a fallen tree. Thankfully, he hadn't run into any of those meat-eating plants that had wrapped him and his friends up earlier that year but he doubted his luck would hold up for much longer. Something told him that he wasn't alone. He could feel it in his bones. Something was coming. Something ominous. Something . . .

"Brandon?"

"_Gah!"_ Brandon hadn't noticed anyone approached him, so he practically jumped out of his skin when he heard his name. Letting out something that sounded suspiciously like a scream, Brandon stumbled backwards, caught his heel a root of the tree he just climbed over and went crashing down into the murky swamp water below. After resurfacing and spitting the dirty water out of his mouth, Brandon stayed seated as he glared up at the person who had just stepped out from behind another tree. "Geez, Musa, don't ever do that again!"

"Sorry," the musical fairy said, stepping carefully on the soft ground where the trees grew to the waters edge where Brandon sat.

"You scared the crud out of me."

"I said I was sorry," Musa reminded him before a sly smirk crossed her face. "Besides, I thought they taught you how be alert and aware of your surroundings at Red Fountain."

Brandon simply glared at her for a couple of seconds before reaching his hand out to her. "Just help me up."

"Okay," Musa smiled widely, grasping his hand firmly and pulling him up. As soon as he regained his feet, Brandon gave the fairy in front of him a look over.

She seemed to be alright. She wasn't in her winx form and the bottom of her jeans was wet and muddy. Just like the first time and every other time he had ever seen her, her hair was pulled up into pigtails only now they weren't as neat as they usually were. Her red top didn't look as bright in the dull light as it normally did and her bare arms were smeared with some kind of filth, indicating that her trek through the Black Mud Swamp wasn't any easier for her than it had been for him. But as roughed up as she looked, Brandon was still glad to see her.

"It's good to see a friendly face," he told her honestly. At his word, Musa's smile faded and a suspicious shine entered her eyes. Out of all the Winx Club girls (apart from Stella, obviously) Brandon got along with Musa best so he was aware of the subtle changes in her emotions. Right now, she was trying her hardest not to cry, no matter how much it might help her. With a sympathetic smile, Brandon opened up his arms to her. "C'mere, give us a hug."

Without any hesitation, Musa threw herself into his arms. She didn't burst into tears – she was too stubborn and proud for that – but she did cling to him desperately like she thought he was going to evaporate before her very eyes. "It's good to see you too," she said in a shaking voice.

"Hey, hey. _Shh_. It's okay. I'm here," Brandon assured her, holding her just as tightly. He could say that he holding her because he wanted to comfort her, but the truth was he needed to physical reassurance just as much as she did at that moment. "How did you get away?"

"I ran," Musa answered, her voice muffled by his chest. "When everyone else bolted I joined them. I wasn't alone. I think I was following three other people, but I lost them in the dark. Somehow, I found myself here."

"Yeah, a similar thing happened to me," Brandon said, recalling the way he had run in a blind panic through the woods to get away from that terrible battle. It wasn't cowardice; it was about survival. At least, that's what he kept telling himself. The pair remained silent for a long time, just holding one another, until Musa felt confident enough to pull away.

"It's gonna rain again soon," she pointed out, rubbing her nose on the back of her hand. Brandon noticed that the statement smoothly acted as a diversion against the bad memories and probing questions, but he let it slide.

"And it's also getting dark. We should find some cover and set up some kind of camp for the night. It's too dangerous to travel through this swamp in the dark."

"Right," Musa sniffed. Brandon peered closely at her and realised that her clothes were noticeably damper than they were before he hugged her.

"Sorry, I've gotten you all wet."

"Don't worry about it. I'll survive. Besides, it's not really gonna matter much once it starts to rain again, huh?"

"No, I guess not," Brandon smiled tragically. "C'mon, let's see if there's at least one dry patch in this hell hole."

* * *

It rained on and off that night, just as it had ever since the Army of Decay had been summoned. Nestled in a virtually dry place under a dense thicket, Sky managed to find a few hours of sleep. It was the third night in a row that he had spent using the ground as a bed so he had a feeling his ability to nod off had more to do with exhaustion than comfort.

In his sleep, his dreams were pleasant. He was somewhere dry and he was with Bloom. He could feel her soft, warm body pressed against him and his nostrils were filled with a sweet, uniquely feminine smell. But when Sky opened his eyes, he found a head of golden hair resting on his chest, not red. Trying to ignore the guilty feeling he had in his gut – like he was betraying both Bloom and Brandon – Sky studied the sleeping Princess of Solaria. She was curled against his side and even though she was asleep she had a worried expression on her face. The pair of them was covered with the blue cape from his uniform and when combined with their shared body heat made for a reasonably comfortable night. Sky would have like to stay where he was and try to get a couple minutes more sleep but his stomach was getting painfully empty and he knew Stella's would be feeling the same.

"Hey, Stell. You awake?" Sky whispered softly. Stella shifted slightly but she didn't open her eyes.

"Mmm?"

"I'm going to go out and see if I can find something to eat. Do you want to wait here until I get back?"

"M-huh."

Taking that as a yes, Sky slipped out from under his cape and crawled out of the thicket into the enchanted forest. Luckily, Survival 101 was a class Red Fountain students took in their freshmen year so Sky was well aware of the types of eatable plants he could find in this forest. None were particularly appetising but they would have to do.

"Stella? It's Sky," Sky announced himself quietly when he returned an hour later with his find. "I'm coming back in."

"Okay," a small voice replied and when Sky climbed back into the thicket he saw that Stella was sitting up with his cape wrapped around her. "You find anything?"

"I did, but I'm not sure you're going to like it," Sky answered honestly, laying out his find for her to see.

"You're right, I don't," Stella said, making a face as she scanned her options. "But I guess I really don't have much of a choice."

"No. I'm afraid not."

Stella sighed as she picked up a non-poisonous mushroom Sky had found. "If the people of Solaria could see me now, they wouldn't believe that I'm royalty."

"I can relate," Sky said with a tragic smile, holding up something that looked a lot like grass to toast her. "Your Highness."

"Your Highness," Stella toasted back with her own small smile. The pair picked at the breakfast in silence for several minutes until Stella spoke again, and when she did her voice and eyes were low. "Sky?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think happened to Bloom?"

Sky suddenly felt like he had been dunked in ice-cold water. He had been avoiding thinking about Bloom for the simple fact that he couldn't handle the emotions that come with it. He had no idea what really happened to her and the unknown was killing him. Was she hurt? Was she out there looking for somewhere safe like he and Stella were doing? Was she even still alive? These unanswered questions made his very soul ache and he had no way of relieving it.

"I don't know, Stella. But I know she's still alive."

Stella's head shot up. "How do you know that?"

"Because I can't . . . I won't accept otherwise."

Stella was silent again for a few moments as she studied the prince in front of her closely. "You really like her, huh?"

"Yeah, Stella. I do."

"More that Diaspro?"

"So much more than I liked Diaspro. I really had no say in that. It was all politics. But with Bloom it's . . . real. You know? Like, even though I was engaged to Diaspro it was Bloom I could really see spending the rest of my life with. What I had with Diaspro isn't anywhere near how it is with Bloom."

"Next time you see Bloom, you should tell her that," Stella told him.

"I hope to. What about you? Do you really like Brandon?"

"More than I ever thought possible," Stella admitted. "I know I made a big fuss about how he's a squire and I'm a princess after the Day of the Royals, but that's only because I was shocked and upset, y'know? I couldn't care less who his parents are and what rank he has. I like him for him and as soon as I get the chance, I'm gonna tell him that."

"He'd like that. I think he's been in love with you since the moment he laid eye on you."

Stella didn't comment on that. Instead she gave him the first genuine smile he had seen from her in days and returned to her breakfast.

* * *

_Thanks for reading. Now I need to get back to studying *sigh* _

_TBC . . . _


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:**_ Yes, yes, I know I'm late uploading this next chapter. I was originally planned to upload it a week ago after sitting my Bioscience exam but then I re-read my work and realised it was bad writing. So I went back and revamped this chapter, especially the second half. I'm still not 100% sold on some aspects of it (mainly the name of an OC) but I figure I've dragged this out long enough. I'm also so exhausted after Supanova (the Australian version of Comic Con) this weekend that I no longer have the mental energy to work this chapter any more. However a little exhaustion is a small price to pay for something like Supanova. Got my photo taken with the actors who play Kili, Nori & Ori in The Hobbit, saw Karl Urban, the guy who plays Arthur in Merlin, bought a replica of Legolas's white knives (which I've wanted for ages) for a steal and saw David Hasselhoff. The Hoff, people! The Hoff!_

_Anyway, back to business. Get ready for some familiar faces._

* * *

**Chapter Three**

For the rest of the Magical Universe the silence from Magix was alarming.

The public were frantic for some kind of information, especially those who had children attending one of the schools there. A combination of military and media had tried to breach the thick cloudbank that surrounded Magix but none of them were effective. Whatever black magic had been infused with those clouds was powerful enough to stand up against some of the most powerful counter spells the magical community had on offer. Every household and workplace in every realm had some kind of news media on, including the Mean Fiddler Hotel (1) where a man by the name of Caleb Gibbs (2) sat in the pub, shifting his attention between the drink in his hand and the dirty screen of the TV situated above the bar.

However, instead of watching the repetitive news cycle with fear like most of the magical community, Caleb felt agitated. Red Fountain had been his alma mater and the hazy reports that were coming in about it falling cut deeply into his soul. Although that wasn't the reason why Caleb was feeling fidgety.

He was antsy because he wasn't there.

Caleb had graduated exactly fourteen years ago and he almost felt cheated that army hadn't invaded Magix during his schooling years. Back then he had been itching for a chance to prove himself in a 'real' battle but now he knew that reality was a lot different than the adolescence fantasies of fame and glory he had when he walked the halls of Red Fountain. He had gotten his fair share of battles after serving ten years in the military piloting fighter jets and when his service had ended he had gone into the private sector, usually flying rich people to remote holiday locations. He hadn't been on a battlefield in years and he sure as hell didn't miss it, but right now he'd happily sign up again to take down these Trix bitches.

"Caleb Gibbs?"

Caleb glanced over his shoulder at the sound of his name to see a tall, lean young man standing behind him. After little more than a glance, Caleb returned his attention to the drink in front of him. "Depends on who's asking."

"I am," the man replied. His tone was stiff and reeked of authority but Caleb wasn't put off by it. A career in the military had given him a thick skin for dealing with brass with attitude problems. In fact, he was rather intrigued by the sheer confidence the stranger had managed to inject into those two little words and turned to get a better look at the person standing behind him.

On closer inspection, Caleb noticed that the guy was a lot younger than he expected. Hell, the kid didn't even look old enough to legally be in a bar, but he held himself with such self-assurance that he had probably walk right passed the security located on the doors without even registered on their radar. His cobalt eyes had a light of intelligence about them and a steeliness that informed Caleb that the kid was going to get exactly what he wanted, one way or another. He had a lean, athletic look but his long hair and clothes spoke of a sensitive and compassionate nature. It was an interesting combination, as if the soul of a drill sergeant had been stuffed into the body of a tree-hugging hippy.

"What do you want, kid?" Caleb asked, taking a swig of his drink.

"I have a business proposition for you."

Caleb smirked, slouching a little bit further in his seat. "Do you now?"

The boy's cobalt eyes narrowed, clearly not impressed with Caleb's tone. Irrationally, Caleb suddenly felt like he was back in the military with his superior officer glaring down at him. No, scratch that. It felt like he was back at high school with Headmaster Saladin staring him down. The kid even had similar coloured eyes to the old wizard. Very similar.

"You are the Caleb Gibbs, correct? Attended Red Fountain School for Heroics and Bravery and graduated fourteen years ago. Joined the air force three months later and received your basic training at Fort Grayston Air Force Academy. You did two tours in Gailma, during the second of which you were shot down. You broke your leg, earning yourself the Purple Heart and five months physical therapy. When you finished your service four years ago, you went to work for Beyond First Class Airways which – unless you've been fired in the last twenty-four hours – is your current employer."

Caleb dropped his smirk and sat up a little straighter in his seat. The kid had just rattled off the last eighteen years of his life. "How did you know that?"

"I do my homework," the boy answered with a straight face.

"I can see that," Caleb noted cautiously. Who the hell was this kid? "Can I get you anything? A drink maybe?"

"No, and none for you either," the boy said, reaching out and snatching Caleb's drink away from him just before it touched his lips. "We're gonna need our wits about us if we're going to get into Magix."

"Magix?" Caleb laughed. Maybe this kid wasn't as smart as he portrayed. "Are you nuts? Every military and law enforcement group in the Magical Universe are trying to get into that place and all of them are getting the same result: nothing. Don't you watch the news? They can't break through that cloudbank."

"They can't break through the clouds because they're trying to punch carrier ships through it. We need something smaller, like say your two seater Black Wing jet."

"Look kid, I know my jet's tiny compared to some of those carriers but it's still a jet. How is that going to break though the clouds?"

"It's not, but it is going to get me close enough to get through the one weak spot the clouds have."

Caleb stared at the boy for a long time as he contemplated what the hell he was going to do. This kid who didn't look old enough to buy a packet of cigarettes seemed to think he could do what every government in the magical universe couldn't, and he was overflowing with such pure confidence that Caleb almost believed him. Or at least, he was curious to know more. "And what do I get out of this?"

"The knowledge that you did something right and that your actions may help save the Realm of Magix."

"From playing taxi for you? I'll admit that you've got balls, kid, but how is one person going to make a lick of difference in a fight like that?"

"One person may be all it takes to sway the battle."

"Right," Caleb said sardonically.

"The clouds are laced with black magic but they are based on the natural phenomenon. There's an eye to that storm similar to the eye of a cyclone and it there that Stormy's magic will be stretched the thinnest. If I can get through that then you can go and report it to the other realms. That kind of assistance in a crisis is sure to open a lot of doors for you, Mr. Gibbs. Ones that could be very profitable for you in the future."

Caleb was honest enough with himself to admit that it was appealing, but he had been a student at Red Fountain, so his moral conscious and civic sense of duty was slightly higher than the average civilian. He wasn't about the abandon those poor souls trapped in that realm when given a chance to help. However, that didn't mean he was going to follow a kid he knew nothing about into a war zone. He wasn't that reckless. "How did you find me?"

"I told you; I did my homework."

"Yeah, but you need clearance to get access to my military files. A kid like you couldn't have done that by yourself."

"My family has a lot of sway."

"Mafia?"

"Something like that," the kid said with a small tug at the side of his mouth. "My grandfather is the headmaster at Red Fountain."

"Saladin? Damn, that's got to pull some clout," Caleb noted. That was one impressive family tree. Not only was Saladin a powerful wizard and skilled hero (or at least, he was back when he was younger) but his children – two girls and one boy – had grown up and made a name for themselves in their own right. Saladin's son was a commander in universally respected mercenary group while one daughter was a highly acclaimed scientist and the other a top class surgeon. The whole family seemed to have overachieving encoded into their DNA. "You got a name kid?"

"If I tell you it, will you stop calling me kid?"

"I dunno. I kinda like it," Caleb grinned mockily.

The kid rolled his eyes. "I'm Helia. Are you in?"

Caleb took a moment to down the last of his drink (to while Helia glared disapprovingly) and set it down on the bar. "Yeah, I'm in."

* * *

"I got nothing," Timmy admitted, stepping back from the pile of scrap metal and the remains of his busted cell phone that he was trying to convert into some kind of radio-slash-antenna. "I don't even have enough materials here to toast a piece of bread let alone something powerful enough to transmit an inter-dimensional signal. Sorry Tec."

"It's alright. It was a long shot to being with," the fairy standing next to him said. She rubbed her bare arms as she looked up at the cloudy sky. "You think anyone's up there? Trying to break through to us?"

"Definitely," Timmy assured her, adjusting his glasses so they'd sit correctly on the bridge of his nose. "When Sky, Brandon and I went to pick you girls up from Sparx, we sent out a signal on all channels explaining the situation. I imagine forces would have been already mobilising by the time we returned to Magix."

"Well, that's some good news at least," Tecna sighed tragically, her eyes still fixed on the clouds above.

Hearing her dejected tone, Timmy gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "They're not going to abandon us, Tecna. I mean, this is the Realm of Magix. The very centre of the Magical Universe. Help is on its way so all we've gotta do is survive until then."

"That might be a while. Those clouds don't look natural."

"With Stormy ruling over at Alfea, that doesn't surprise me," Timmy admitted and then flinched as the shriek of one of the flying stingrays filled the air. It was a fair ways off but it was still too close for them to relax. Grabbing Tecna's hand, Timmy started walking again, leaving the 'antenna' behind. "C'mon. Let's keep moving."

They had been moving almost continuously ever since the final battle. People might chalk them up as a pair of meek computer geeks who spent their whole life in front of a screen, but in a tight spot they could be surprising tough. They had pushed on all throughout the first night and the following day so they were deep in the enchanted forest by now. They were a fair distance away from any form of civilization, which could be considered both a good and a bad thing. Good, because the Trix didn't seem like the type of girls who would give up their creature comforts – even to chase down and harass fleeing students like Timmy and Tecna – and bad because they were the in the middle of nowhere with no way to contact some kind of help.

They were completely alone.

"So, strategically speaking, what realm do you think the Trix will try to conquer next?" Tecna asked as they walked. She wasn't able to _not _think about the Trix but she didn't want to be stuck relieving her nightmarish memories of the last few days either. So that left her with speculating what her enemy's next move might be and, with any luck, she might even figure out a way counter them.

That and she also liked to hear the sound of Timmy's voice.

Timmy was quiet for a moment before answering. "It's hard to say. I mean, there are so many variables that need to be taken into account. Are the Trix going to strike quickly while the rest of the realms are unprepared or are they going to wait until the Army of Decay grows more in size? Are they going to rely on the rot monsters or is there something else they're going to use? Remember, there are plenty of powerful spells and magical artefacts in Alfea and Cloud Tower, not to mention the dragons at Red Fountain. And when leave Magix who's to say what their objective is. Are they after power and therefore go after the realm that opposes them the strongest? Or are they after money and will attack a wealthy realm like Quartz? Who knows? They may even take a more personal route and attack some place like Solaria, you know, just to irk Stella.

"However if I had to make an estimated guess based on all the information I know today, I'd say their best strategic move would be to head to a place like Linphea next."

"Linphea?" Tecna repeated, squeezing Timmy's hand that was still holding hers a little bit tighter. "That's Flora's home realm."

"I know, and it's got everything they need. It's close to Magix, its population doesn't have a formidable defense force and the leaf litter that would accumulate in a realm like that would increase the size of their rot army considerably."

"That's assuming they make a move that would be most beneficial for the Army of Decay," Tecna noted gloomily.

"Yeah and who can tell what's going through Icy's sick, twisted mind at any given moment."

"Timmy?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we going to be able to stop them?"

Timmy sighed heavily, allowing the feeling of total hopelessness wash over him for just a moment. "I don't know, Tec. We had a strategic advantage at Alfea. We fortified that school for a battle and still it wasn't enough. And now our forces are scattered without any kind of leadership and base of operations. It doesn't look good."

"I had a feeling you'd say something like that."

Hearing the defeat in her voice, Timmy regretted being so honest with her. "Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound so bleak. There's still a chance that – "

"_Shh!_" Tecna suddenly hissed, grabbing his arm tightly and pulling him to a stop. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That."

Timmy was silent and strained his ears to try and hear what she had, but he got nothing. "I don't hear anything."

"Something's out there," Tecna told him in a hushed voice. "And whatever it is, it's closing in on us. _Fast_."

Without needing any further confirmation, Timmy reached for his bee kicker blaster and pulled it from its holster. As he took the safety off, he scanned the trees surrounding him and searched for any sign of this mysterious creature that Tecna had heard. The silence was deafening and with each passing second, Timmy's anxiety built. Which his why when the thing came bursting out of the undergrowth he nearly jumped out of his skin instead of shooting.

Not that it would have made much of a difference. The thing was moving so fast that all Timmy could make out was a dark coloured blur as it shot directly at him. Red Fountain taught excellent combat skill – both with weapons and hand-to-hand – but there was very little one could do when their opponent was much faster than they were. The fast moving blur made a grab at the gun and simultaneous hitting Timmy in the stomach causing him to double over. Stunned, the young hero weaken his grip on his gun which was then pulled from his fingers as the thing kick out his legs from under him, sending him crashing down onto his back. The air shifted and he heard Tecna scream in shock as she was also knocked to the ground. Timmy started to move so he could help her, but then the feeling of the muzzle of his gun being pressed to the side of his skull made him freeze.

"You conjure up one ounce of magic and I'll blow his brains out. Got that, fairy?" a voice commanded in a no nonsense tone.

"Got it," Tecna agreed immediately. Timmy glanced at her, lying on the ground with wide, panicked eyes but thankfully she looked unharmed, leaving Timmy free to observe their captor.

Now that it had stopped moving, Timmy could see that the blur was in fact a girl who looked to be his age and he recognised her as one of the Cloud Tower witches. Her signature colours were violet and burgundy, her legs were toned and virtually uncovered due to the tiny gym shorts she wore and she had a severe expression on her face that indicated that she wasn't kidding around. She also didn't seem too focused on her two captives. In fact, she looked like she was waiting for something.

"Who are you?" Timmy asked gently, not wanting to aggravate her while she still had his gun pressed to his head.

"Shut up," the witch ordered, her sea-grey eyes fixed in one direction. The trio remained still for a few long moments before the delicate sound of fluttering fairy wings reached their ears and a few seconds later a fairy came flying out of the trees to join them. At first glance, Timmy had though Flora had found them because of the pink winx outfit and brownish hair, but on closer inspection he saw that the outfit was a skirt and top combination instead of a dress (3) and the girl's long hair was darker and had traces of red throughout it. The witch seemed to know the girl and irritated by her arrival. "Nice of you to finally join us."

"Well if you hadn't gone tearing off like that we could have confronted them together. That is the reason why we were sent out together in the first place," the fairy snapped, clearly not impressed with the witch either. The fairy glared at the witch for a second longer before looking at the two captives and when she saw Tecna, her eyes widened. "Oh my gosh! Tecna!"

"Pricilla," Tecna gasped, recognising her classmate. "What's going on?"

Instead of answering, Pricilla rounded on the witch who still hadn't switch where she was aiming the gun in her hand. "Let them go. They're not our enemies."

"How do we know that?" the witch countered, not letting up. "For all we know the Trix spelled them and then sent them out to try to track us down. How many times do we have to have this conversation before you get it, fairy?"

"Stop being such a paranoid freak, Dominique. This is Tecna, for crying out loud. She's a member of the Winx Club! They're the ones who have been opposing the Trix all year. She's not a threat."

"It's not paranoia if someone's really out to get you, or have you forgotten the fact that we're at war?" the witch, Dominique, snarled. "Just because she's a member of a club that you fairies foolishly put all your faith in doesn't mean that she can be trusted now. That could be the enemy's plan. Send them out to find stupid people like you who'll trust them without stopping to think about it first."

"They're not spies. I will personally vouch for them," Pricilla said, her voice as cold and hard as ice. The stand off ensued with the fairy and the witch glaring fiercely at one another, just waiting for the other one to back down. The tension was electric and poor Timmy and Tecna were caught right in the middle of it.

Finally, Dominique caved slightly.

"Fine, but I'm still going to wait until they get checked out before they're read into anything," the witch stated firmly, removing the gun from Timmy's head and taking a step back. She did not, however, give Timmy back his gun and she continued to watch them like a hawk.

Pricilla, on the other hand, was very hospitable. The second Dominique had backed off she dropped her fierce manner and quickly rushed to help Tecna to her feet. "I'm so sorry about that. Everyone's just been under so much pressure at the moment that you kind of have to adopt a 'trust no one' attitude."

"That's quite understandable," Tecna smiled, relieved to have found a friendly face. "If we were a bit quicker, the situation may have been reversed."

"Not likely," Dominique muttered under her breath. Timmy, who had also gotten back on his feet, glanced back at her and she continued to glare back at him with her arms folded across her chest. She did not look happy about the situation and her right foot was tapping impatiently as if she wanted to be moving again. Pricilla and Tecna completely ignored her.

"So, you got away obviously," Tecna noted, giving her classmate a quick glance over. After almost two days on the run through the forest, Tecna and Timmy were both looking pretty worse for ware, but both Pricilla and Dominique looked clean and somewhat refreshed. For a moment, Tecna wondered if _she_ should be the one trusting _them_. Dominique had raised some excellent points. They were at war after all and with Darcy's abilities they really should trust no one. Both she and Timmy were at a strategic disadvantage since Pricilla was in her winx form and Dominique still had Timmy's weapon, but Tecna was willing to risk it for some help. After all, she did trust Pricilla.

"Yeah. Sometimes being the fastest flyer in the grade has its advantages," Pricilla smiled in a way that made her look mildly embarrassed. After a glance in Dominique's direction she added, "Of course, it does have its downsides too. I got paired up with the speed witch because I'm one of the few who can keep up with her."

"_Tch_, whatever," Dominique hissed but again the fairies ignored her.

"Have you run into anyone else?"

"No," Tecna answered. "You two are the first people we've seen since the final battle."

"I thought so. Most of the people got captured then. Ms. Faragonda and the teachers are being held at Cloud Tower while all the students are at either Alfea or Red Fountain," Pricilla informed them. "There are a few people like you guys who ran off and are now just roving aimlessly which is why we're out scouting to – "

"What are you stupid?" Dominique suddenly interrupted, her eyes blazing. "They still haven't been checked yet so don't start reading them in. Gods, you fairies are so frigging naive! How many times do I have to remind you we're at war? You can't just go blabbing your mouth off about our tactics to just anyone. We're at a bad enough disadvantage as it is."

"Well fine! Let's go back and get them checked out before you give yourself an aneurism!" Pricilla snarled back, bearing her teeth like a wild animal.

"Fine!"

"_Fine!" _

Dominique suddenly laughed. Clearly, she was having fun getting a raise out of the fairy. "You know, you should really work on your anger management issues," Dominique said in a sweetly patronizing manner to which Pricilla simply glared at. Still smiling, the witch moved towards Timmy and Tecna and tossed the gun at Pricilla. "Here, hold that."

"Aren't you worried I'll use it to shoot you?"

"I've seen you try to take down rot monsters. Your aim's not that good," Dominique shot back before turning her attention to Timmy who she was standing directly in front of. Without so much as a word of warning, the witch dropped to her knees and grabbed his upper left thigh in between her two hands.

"Whoa!" Timmy gasped, trying to step back but Dominique's vice like grip held him in place. Left with no other options, Timmy stood still and flushed madly as the witch massaged the muscles in his legs, her face embarrassingly close to his crotch.

"Um, what are you doing?" Tecna demanded, also noticing the compromising position.

"We need to travel a considerable distance and it'll take too long to get there travelling at your speed," Dominique explained as she worked her way down Timmy's leg and back up again. Once she was done she moved onto the other leg. "I'm relaxing your muscles so that you'll be able to keep up with me. Once I stop touching you it's important that you don't try and move. At the moment the only thing keeping you upright is my magic and one step it will cause it to diminish."

"Where are you taking us?" Tecna asked as Dominique finished spelling Timmy's legs and move onto hers.

"That's for us to know and for you to find out," Dominique to her stiffly as she made quick work of Tecna's legs. Then witch stood and positioned herself so that Timmy and Tecna were flanking her on either side. Grasping Timmy's nearest wrist with one hand, Dominique ordered him to grasp her wrist in a similar fashion. Once she was certain that they had a firm grip on one another she instructed Tecna to do the same with her other hand. It was an unusual sight – a hero, witch and fairy all holding hands – but Dominique didn't appear to be self-conscious about it. Her expression was cool and businesslike as she looked over at Pricilla. "Try and keep up this time, will you?"

"Man, I hate you," Pricilla replied in a matter of fact tone of voice. Dominique didn't even bother to react to such a comment.

"Most people prefer to close their eyes while I do this," Dominique said causally. Timmy and Tecna quickly exchanged nervous looks before Tecna accepted the advice and closed her eyes tightly. Timmy did not, and it was a decision he was going to regret.

Timmy had spent the last few years trailing around on levi bikes, shooting through the sky on the backs of dragons and even jumping from great heights so speed was not something he was intimidated by. However running at super speed with Dominique scared him more than all of those other things combined.

While it was a bit unnerving to suddenly go from zero to what felt like one hundred miles per hour in the space of one second (especially since it was all done with just the power of someone's legs) Timmy probably would have enjoyed it once his stomach had a chance to catch up with him. What did terrify him was the way Dominique slid and weaved around corners and obstacles the undergrowth threw their way. Dominique was obviously a very gifted athlete and took each turn like a pro, but Timmy was gripped with blinding fear every time she shifted her direction slightly and the ground went sliding under their feet like a drifting car. And no matter how much the cold wind burned his face, Timmy wasn't able to couldn't close his wide, terrified eyes.

Trees whipped by them at dangerous speeds and Dominique always seemed to shift her direction as slightly as possible so that they were literally missing the trees by mere inches. Somewhere behind them Pricilla must have been following but Timmy found it impossible to think that _anything_ would be able to keep up with the pace they were moving at. It was like some terrible, frightening ride that Timmy couldn't get off of.

And then – without warning – the witch had twisted her body ninety degrees, planted her feet and positioned herself into a stance similar to one an archer might take when pulling back the string of a bow. The the combination of one bent arm and one straight arm prevented Timmy and Tecna from crashing into one another when they whipped around Dominique and came together like the teeth of a zipper as the three slide for several metres before coming to a full stop.

"Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Where are we?" Timmy managed to pant out but Dominique ignored them. She kept a firm grip on both his and Tecna's wrists and stared straight ahead, like she was waiting for something. Timmy tried to wiggle his way out of her grasp but he didn't have the strength to wrestle a lettuce leaf let alone pry off Dominique's powerful fingers.

"Stop it," Dominique ordered, her eyes still staring directly in front of her.

"Where are you taking us?" Tecna asked, her voice shaking as much as Timmy's had been.

"You'll find out soon enough."

And then, in the depths of their mind, came the signal Dominique was waiting for. Timmy hadn't had much to do with telepaths before, but a voice that he didn't recognise suddenly rang in his ears like the toll of a large, powerful bell and somehow he knew that Tecna and Dominique had heard it as well.

~_They're clear~_

And then Dominique was running again, taking them deeper and deeper into the forest until she stopped using the same archer stance she had used before. Only this time, the second they were stationary she let go of her passengers, severing the magical connection she had built between them. Both Timmy and Tecna's legs were weak with shock, exhaustion and the affects of the spell kneaded into their muscles, and without the witch's support they both crashed to the ground. The two of them lay still, focusing solely on just breathing in and out so it took them a minute or so to realise what is was they were hearing.

Talking. There were people talking. Lots of them.

It wasn't just bickering between Pricilla and Dominique. It was the rumble of a large group of people calming conversing with one another. And there were other sounds as well, like the trickle of water, the dull hammering of a mallet and the scraping of someone sharpening a metal blade.

Using his trembling arms to force himself upright, Timmy finally saw that Dominique had brought them to the outskirts of a camp. He could see lean-tos and other forms of crudely shelters that were all protected under the canopy of one massive, ancient looking Tree. The Tree (for some reason Timmy felt it demanded the capital lettering) was noticeably larger than the trees surrounding it and seemed to mark the centre of the camp. Timmy couldn't see all the people scattered around the surrounds trees but those he could see were all students and they all seemed to be preparing for one thing; war.

"Welcome," Dominique said suddenly, a wide and wicked grin stretched across her face, "to the Great Witch Rebellion."

* * *

_And there's the title._

_(1) There is actually a pub in call the Mean Fiddler Hotel. It was built in like the mid 1820's and has a reputation for being one of the most violent bars in the Sydney area, but that's just because it's really popular and that many people in a drinking environment is bound to cause conflict. Personally I just think it has a really unusual name and wanted to use it. _

_(2) This guy's name went through so many changes and I'm still not sure if I'm happy with it. I went with Gibbs because on Navy fighter jet the Radio Intercept Officer (the guy who sits behind the pilot) is sometimes referred to as a GIB (guy in back). Or at least that's what NCIS has taught me. And Caleb . . . I dunno where that one came from. I've never felt strongly about that name so I just kinda went with it. Like I said I'm still not convinced I've got it right. _

_(3) Apparently the Pricilla in the 4Kids version and the Rai version are two different girls. I went the one with the longer red hair, not the bob cut. Also apparently her winx colours are green, not pink but I wanted Timmy to momentarily mistake her for Flora so I haven't changed it._

_Also I'm sure a lot of you will recognise Dominique from some of my other stories. She's just got a very convenient power, especially since the characters are so space out at the moment. If I had a choice of powers I'd love to have super speed and teleportation. Would never have to worry about traffic ever again. _

'_Til next time . . . TBC._


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** _So yeah, I'm a bit late with this chapter due to inconveniently timed (for you guys at least) girls weekend away and the fact that I had to rewrite a lot of this. This story came about in such a staggered way that some of my earlier writing doesn't match up with the later parts so I've had to revisit my work. Makes for slow last minute editing._

* * *

**Chapter Four **

After she dropped Timmy and Tecna off at the Rebellion Camp, Dominique didn't hang around. As soon as she was watered she moved out on another scouting mission, this time taking with her a fairy other than Pricilla. Timmy and Tecna assumed it was because their rescuers didn't get along, but Pricilla informed them that it was now her responsibility to brief them on what all this all was.

"When the final battle started to turn sour, the witches didn't run," Pricilla explained as she sat on the ground next to Timmy and Tecna. Their legs hadn't recovered from their run with Dominique so it was decided they should just stay put until they could stand again. "They made a tactical retreat to this place so that they could plan a counter strike."

"Where are we?" Timmy asked, staring up at the massive Tree, which he didn't recognise. It wasn't so much the height of it that was impressive but more the size of its branches. They reached out like a series of long arms that overlapped with the surrounding smaller trees, creating a natural roof for the camp. They were far enough away from Stormy so the rain had eased off slightly, but a horrible mist still lay across the land.

"To be honest I really don't know. They said something about it being near the Barrier Mountains."

"The Barrier Mountains?" Tecna repeated. "That's hours away from Alfea! By jet! How did they travel that distance in one night? How do your scouts manage it?"

"You saw how fast Dominique can move and she's not the only one with talents."

"You mean teleportation?" Timmy tried to clarify.

"Yes and no," Pricilla answered cryptically. "Generally speaking, witches are better at teleportation than fairies but they haven't been relying on it."

"Why?" Timmy asked since his understanding of magic wasn't, of course, as thorough as the two fairies.

"Like all complex spells, teleportation gives off a magical blowback that the Trix would be able to pick up on and then they could pinpoint the location of the spell caster," Tecna explained. "If the Rebellion went to all this trouble basing themselves in such a remote location like this they wouldn't want to blow their cover by sending out a signal."

"Yeah, we're kind of on a magical lockdown. Only physically based magic such as fairy wings and powers like Dominique's super speed are allowed to be used since they can slip under the radar," Pricilla informed them. "Since we don't have any teachers, the seniors are in charge. Each group – fairies, heroes and witches – have someone overseeing them. We've been calling them the Triumvirs."

Tecna quickly realised a discrepancy. "But Dominique called this the Great _Witch_ Rebellion. That doesn't exactly sound like an even alliance."

"That's because in all honesty it isn't," Pricilla sighed. "Believe me, Tecna, I wish things were different too but we just don't have the numbers. Even if you combine the number of Alfea and Red Fountain students together it's still not even half the number of Cloud Tower witches. Plus, with the obvious exception of the Trix, they have their entire senior class so they know how to use their magic. This is a Witch Rebellion, whether we like it or not. They're the ones who came up with a contingency plan and they've got the numbers to back it up. And when you get right down it we should be grateful that they're at least giving us the illusion of each school having equal representation because this autocracy could be a lot uglier."

"Is there a commanding witch? Or are there a council of witches calling the shots?" Timmy asked because the solider in him knew that a war run by a council would never work. Hard decisions are no doubt going to have to be made and things would be less complicated if it all came down to one persons choice.

"There's a senior that they call Miss Seleena and apparently this is all her doing. Before that final battle she had already discussed a tactical retreat with her classmates and then grabbed whoever they could when they executed it."

Tecna did not look impressed. "So when they gave up, it was all premeditated."

Pricilla's shoulders sagged, giving her an exhausted presence. "I know you want to be angry. Hell, I was too when I was bought here but really, what other option was there? Darcy and Stormy defeated Ms. Faragonda and Miss Griffin. None of the other teachers could stand up to them and then Icy . . ." Pricilla pressed her fingers to her lips for a moment to school her emotions. "Escape was our only option. I guess we should just be lucky that someone had a plan."

"What is this Miss Seleena like?" Timmy asked gently. He could see that Tecna was still simmering with anger but he understood why the witches had acted the way they did. He could still remember the blind panic he had felt running through the dark forest that first night, furiously wishing he considered an escape plan.

"She's smart. And about as soft as nails," Pricilla laughed, the stress no doubt getting to her. "She's known the Trix since her freshmen year in ways that Miss Griffin didn't and seems to have idea about counter them. From the second the Rebellion arrived here Miss Seleena's been the one giving out orders to do everything from creating shelters to finding food. She's got scouts like Dominique out looking for stragglers like you two and other witches out looking other things. I'm not sure what. She keeps things pretty close to the vest but Cloud Tower girls seem to think she's brilliant."

"_Hnf_, if she's so brilliant why didn't she do more when the Trix originally invaded?" Tecna asked still not willing to drop her prejudices that quickly.

~_Because Miss Griffin and the other teachers decided to leave Icy and her sisters for you and your friends to deal with,~ _a voice said, only it wasn't spoken. Instead, judging by the way they all reacted, it had been projected directly into their minds. Timmy and Tecna recognised it as the same voice that had cleared them when Dominique had paused in the forest and it became very clear to them that there was a telepath in the Rebellion. _~Pricilla, please usher our two new arrivals to Chucky and Annabelle so that they can report in. I've sent some people to help.~ _

"Thank-you Miss. I'll escort them right away," Pricilla said out loud, getting to her feet. Timmy and Tecna's legs were still weak so they were only able to stand after two of Timmy's classmates arrived to help them up.

"Bishop, W," Timmy greeted warmly as Bishop pulled him up.

"Hey Tim, great to see," Bishop said with a sideways smile, which was pretty much a grin from ear to ear for Bishop. W was impassive as always.

"Miss Seleena wants them to check in with Chucky and Annabelle," Pricilla told the two boys. Since W was shorter, he was the one who let Tecna drape her arm over his shoulders to support her as they walked. Timmy wasn't sure how he felt about that but since his legs were shaking like a newborn colt he didn't have much choice rather than to lean on Bishop and listened to him as he filled him in a bit more.

"You know Chucky, right Timmy? That senior from Vallisto? He's the one us Heroes are taking orders from since there's no teacher and he knows battle tactics like no one else in his grade," Bishop explained as they slowly made their way through the camp. "Like, sure he's not exactly as good as Saladin but he's a hell of a substitute."

"I bet he is. He earned himself quite a reputation," Timmy recalled. By now, Timmy was feeling stable enough to walk without Bishop's support but the other hero still kept close, just in case his balance started to waver. As he walked, Timmy glanced around at the surroundings and he quickly confirmed that Pricilla hadn't been exaggerated the Cloud Tower monopoly within the camp. A majority of the people he saw were witches but they all appeared focused on their own individual tasks to pay him any attention. The shelters had been made using natural materials such as branches and leaves but they looked dry and therefore inviting despite their somewhat shabby appearance. Small fires were burning away at a couple locations for various reasons such as for warmth or for blacksmithing. And there were even a few that were designated for cooking and the smells that were wafting from those fires caused Timmy's mouth to water and his empty stomach to grumble.

And to his great relief, it was to one of those fires that Pricilla was leading them. There was a large group of students – most of them seniors – sitting on the ground or on logs around the fire and they all looked up as the five young teenagers approached.

"We have two new members to our Rebellion," Pricilla announced, gesturing to the new arrivals. "This is Tecna and Timmy."

"Ah, I've been waiting for one of you," one of the heroes greeted excitedly, clamouring to his feet and moving forward to seize Timmy's hand in a powerful handshake. Timmy didn't need an introduction to know who this guy was.

Chucky was to the Red Fountain senior class what Sky was to the sophomores. He may be the only son of an Earl in Vallisto but it was his charismatic personality and skill with a blade that had won the respect of his classmates, not his title or his inheritance. He was handsome young hero with a grin that was known to make the girls swoon and bright blue eyes that were always welcoming, but the thing that stood out about Chucky most was his hair. When his was just a freshman, the hero had started to grey prematurely and now, three years later, his short, spiked hair was the salt and pepper colouring of a man decades older but if anything it only enhanced his good looks. He was the perfect representation of a Red Fountain hero and someone the heroes could all rally behind.

"Welcome to the Rebellion," Chucky unintentionally repeated Dominique.

"Thank-you, sir," Timmy replied with a formal nod of his head, suddenly unsure if he was supposed to salute the senior or not. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tenca fidget uncomfortably and he could tell that she was just as unsure of how she was supposed to act. "My name's Timmy."

"Yes I know," Chucky said and Timmy flushed with embarrassment when he remembered that Pricilla had already introduced him. Chucky enthusiasm, however, could not be deterred by a little repetition. "You're one of the ones who went to Sparx, right? The smart one?"

"Um, yes sir," Timmy answered, blushing more. Timmy knew he was smart but he was also modest.

Chucky grinned widely before looking at Tecna. "And you're one of the Winx Club girls, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," the digital fairy nodded formally. She had never heard of Chucky or his reputation but she could tell from the way the others around the fire silently watched him that he was someone who should be respected. Also he was a very handsome young man. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine," Chucky replied with a dashing smile and the combination of pearly white teeth, sparkling blue eyes and unique silver hair caused Tecna to feel a little light headed. "Please, sit with us. You must be tired. And hungry. Desmond, go get them some food and water. Thanks mate. Now c'mon you two. Come sit by the fire. I'm sure Seleena would have informed Annabelle that you're here so she should be along soon to introduce herself to – "

Whatever Chucky was going to say was cut off by a thrilled squeal as a colourful fairy bolted towards the fire and exploded into the group.

"Is it true? Is one of them here? Really?" the fairy asked and when she spotted Tecna, she let out another high-pitched sound that caused a few people in the vicinity to wince. The fairy was oblivious to their reaction since she was too busy throwing her arms around the startled freshmen and hugged her tightly. "Oh, it's true! It's true! It's true! You're here!"

"I'm here," Tecna agreed, more than a bit taken back by the fairy's greeting.

"Belle, you're freaking the poor girl out," Chucky grinned widely.

"Oh poppycock," the fairy said, pulling back from the hug but she still held into both of Tecna's hands in a way that was more endearing than invasive. This had to be the senior fairy, Annabelle. She was an absolutely stunning creature from Solaria that specialised in rainbow spells and her magic was reflected in her appearance. Her long, gently curled hair was as golden as Stella's, her bright eyes were a striking shade of green, her smooth skin was lightly tanned, her cheeks were rosy and her short, summery dress was made up of all the colours of the rainbow. Even though she was older, she was shorter than Tecna was but her personality was a lot bigger than her petite body gave her credit for. And she was positively beaming as she stared at the two new arrivals. "We've been waiting for you."

At that, Timmy frowned. Chucky had said something similar and Timmy didn't know exactly what that meant by that. "Waiting for us specifically?"

"Well, waiting for us to find one of the Winx Club," Chucky explained and Tecna's face fell.

"None of my friends are here?" she asked, her voice sounding very small. "You haven't found them?"

"Not yet, but we will," Annabelle promised her before looking at Chucky with an adoring expression that even Timmy couldn't miss. "Right Chucky?"

"We'll try our best," Chucky nodded, clearly enjoying the attention the small fairy was beaming at him. They may be caught up in the middle of a war but they were still teenagers after all.

"What about my squad?" Timmy asked hesitantly. "Are any of them here?"

"I'm afraid not, which is why we're so glad we found the two of you. We want to ask you what you know about . . ." Chucky trailed off all of a sudden, his eyes distant like he was listening to something no one else could hear. When the look passed, he turned his attention back to Annabelle. "Seleena wants us to take this into her tent."

"Very well," Annabelle nodded, linking elbows with Tecna and heading off. "This way."

"We'll be right back," Chucky told the group sitting around the fire and following after Annabelle, Timmy quickly falling into step beside him. The two males remained silent but Annabelle chatted enthusiastically to Tecna (who in turn could only managed to get one word answers in) as they walked towards the base of the Tree and for the first time Timmy noticed the tent. Given that all the other shelters were made from materials found the forest, the plain, white tent looked strikingly out of place. Despite its simple design and colouring, however, both Timmy and Tecna could tell that this was the seat of power of the Rebellion.

"Seleena will be expecting us," Annabelle assured them as they neared the entrance. The four teenagers let themselves in and Timmy and Tecna blinked as they took in the unexpected design.

It was very well lit, which seemed strange for a witch's quarters, and the space was a perfect combination of style and efficiency. A large table of polished black granite was directly in the centre of the tent. Where they managed to get a table made out of anything out in the middle of nowhere, Timmy and Tecna didn't know, but it to was covered in what looked to be battle plans and maps of Magix as well as a few other witchy objects. In one of the tent corners there was a brazier made of cast-iron that was giving off a comfortable heat and in another corner there was a cauldron with a somewhat unpleasant smelling liquid bubbling inside it. Other objects lined the walls of the tent such as a few chairs and wicked looking weapons, but they were all black to contrast against the white walls of the tent.

And sitting in a throne-like chair situated between the brazier and the cauldron was a witch that matched the colour scheme perfectly.

The witch was, without a doubt, the most monotone individual Timmy or Tecna had ever laid eyes on. It was almost like she had just stepped out of a black and white movie. Her skin was the palest of white, paler even than Tecna's, and the black lipstick she wore only enhanced it. Her hair was long, straight and solid black and her eyes were deep, dark pools of a similar shade. Her clothing gave her no colour either; a white button up collared blouse and a short, black pleated skirt. She wore black, fingerless gloves that reached halfway to her elbow and her black, lace up boots reached halfway up her shines. Her thigh-high socks had black and white horizontal stripes across them that reminded Tecna of a witch from one of Bloom's favourite childhood movies, the Wizard of Oz, and they gave her look that unique feel that only a witch could really pull off.

"So, this is them," the witch noted, her voice soft and very controlled. She remained perfectly still as he studying the two new members of the Rebellion and Timmy and Tecna couldn't help but fidget slightly under her intense gaze. The fact that they couldn't distinguish her pupils from her irises was unnerving and there was something about her eyes that gave the impression that the witch could see a lot more than most people. It was as if she was looking right into their very souls.

It was . . . intimidating.

One person, however, who didn't feel uncomfortable around the strange, colourless witch was Annabelle, who skipped right up to her and perched herself on the table excitedly. "Oh Seleena, it's it wonderful? We finally managed to find a member of the Winx Club. Maybe we'll be able to find the others as well, including Bloom."

"Maybe," Seleena softly, not sounding anywhere near as excited as her fairy counterpart. With the grace of a cat, the witch got to her feet and cross the tent so she could get closer look at the new arrivals. "They look younger than I expected."

"They're only a few years younger than us," Annabelle giggled. "Although I guess you do seem so much older than you really are."

"Yes, I suppose I do," Seleena agreed causing Annabelle to break out in another round of giggles. The two seniors were exact opposites of one another. Annabelle was short and Seleena was as tall as the boys. Annabelle was bright and bubbly but Seleena was cool and composed. Annabelle was so colourful while Seleena was black and white. One was a fairy, the other a witch. Timmy and Tecna could only hope they weren't going to let their supreme differences get in the way of that.

Seleena, Chucky and Annabelle may be the best their schools could offer but they all needed to work together if they were to lead the three schools to victory.

"I imagine that the last few days haven't been easy on you so I promise not to keep you long," Seleena informed Tecna and Timmy. "There'll be food available for you as soon as we're done and I'll have someone see to it that you have some form of shelter for tonight."

"Thank-you, Miss," Timmy replied, recalling how Pricilla had addressed the black and white witch.

"There's just one little thing I'm curious about," Seleena said, moving to stand by the brazier and stare into the flames. "There were a lot of people who put their faith in Bloom defeating Icy and her sisters; Ms. Faragonda, Saladin and Miss Griffin. Intelligent people who truly understand magic and yet they trusted a novice to complete a task instead of themselves. What is it about this Bloom that makes so many people put so much . . . reckless faith in her?"

Tecna pressed her lips together tightly to stop herself from snapping out the first response that came to her. In this setting Miss Seleena was a very powerful individual so civility was important. "Well, she is the Last Princess of Sparx and rightful Keeper of the Dragon Fire."

"So I hear," Seleena replied with an edge that indicated she was not impressed by the information. "But that is not what I asked. I have little interest in Bloom's supposed powers as it's apparent she does not know how to use them."

"What exactly do you want to know?" Tecna asked, failing to keep an edge out of her voice.

"I want to know if she truly ever had any talent. Or whether our current situation is a result of false advertising."

"She didn't do anything wrong!" Tecna quickly responded, leaping to the defence of her friend. How dare this witch try to peg this whole thing on Bloom? She wasn't the one who went to the same school as the Trix for four years and not work out who they really were.

"She failed to defeat Icy, thus causing the fall of Alfea."

"That wasn't her fault! Bloom tried all year to stop those witches from causing trouble and she's only a freshmen! Hell, she only found out she had magic a year ago! So don't you dare try to blame this on her!"

Seleena's expression remained completely passive as Tecna ranted, but as she finished up the witch allowed a small smile to spread across her black tinted lips. Far from being offended by Tecna's tongue lashing, Seleena almost looked pleased when she addressed her fellow seniors. "It appears you were correct about the Winx girls being passionate and loyal, Annabelle. We can use that."

"We're not at a loss for people who are passionate and loyal to the cause fighting the Trix, Seleena," Chucky pointed out.

"Yes Charles, thank-you for your impute," Seleena said. Her comment could have been taken as being snarky if it wasn't so emotionless.

"Seleena, play nice," Annabelle teased before turned her attention to Tecna. "During the last battle, Bloom arrived with Dragon Fire and then she and Icy went off to fight one-on-one. Do you know what might have happened to her after that?"

Tecna shook her head sadly. "No, I don't. I wish I did but that was the last time Bloom as well and I was too busy trying to take on Darcy and Stormy to see what happened."

"But she had the Dragon Fire," Chucky pointed out. "Shouldn't have that have counted for something?"

"She had the Dragon Fire, but Icy had it too and she has and lot more experience with magic than Bloom," Seleena reminded them all calmly.

"Not to mention a complete lack of scruples," Timmy added and no one could disagree with him on that.

"Question is how are we supposed to stop an enemy like that?" Chucky asked no one in particular.

Seleena looked out aimlessly to one side, seeing nothing and everything at once. "There is a way. We just need to wait for all the pieces to be in the right places," she said cryptically. Then she blinked and looked back at the others with a focused expression. "But for now go and rest. You'll need your strength when the time comes. Annabelle, Charles, I'll meet with you both in a few hours to discuss strategy."

"What are you going to do in the meantime?" Annabelle asked, hopping off the table.

"I'll be speaking with my mystics. Something's coming and I want to know what."

* * *

_I did warn that there are few OC's in this story and the Triumvirs are three big ones. As I mentioned earlier this story really crystallised for me after seeing Wicked and Annabelle, Chucky and Seleena loosely resemble Glinda, Fiyero and Elphaba._

_My character Annabelle is based on Kristin Chenoweth __and I choose her name as a nod to Kristin's West Wing role, Annabeth Schott. Also her dress is one that I own._

_Chucky is based on a ski instructor I had a crush on but couldn't act on since I had a boyfriend at the time __*sigh* however his name belonged to a cute lift operator from a few season previous. And I don't know if this is a little too much information but I love a silver fox. George Clooney, Mark Harmon, Dr Andrew Rochford. They make me all tingly inside. I was gutted when I heard that my ski instructor was dying in sexy silver locks to common blonde. _

_Seleena's look is kinda a combination of Emily Strange and NCIS's Abby Scuito's outfit in the episode "Mind Games" and to a lesser extent "Switch". Expect for the socks, they're Wizard of Oz based. And if you think she's cold and unlike able, that's the point. She's like the anti-Faragonda but she's just as capable. _

_Oh and for those who don't know, a __triumvir__ is one of three officers or magistrates mutually exercising the same public function. I also think it's a fun word to say. _

_TBC. _


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: **__Since I was late uploading the last chapter I figured I'd pump this one out quick. It's not very long and has a lot of (hopefully) humorous banter, which breaks up the pervious chapter and the next one coming that are both dark and heavy with plot. So this chapter was a nice interlude and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. _

* * *

**Chapter Five**

"Okay, it's my go. What are we up to?"

"The letter J."

"Right," Brandon nodded, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration. "I went to Icy, Darcy and Stormy's trial and I brought some arsenic, a berretta, a cat o'nine tails whip, darts, an electric chair, fire ants . . . um . . . G . . . What was G? No! Don't tell me. G . . . G . . . G . . . Oh! Gasoline! Of course! Er, a hangman's noose, an ice pick and a javelin."

"A javelin?" Musa repeated.

"Yeah, so I can practice my throwing skills."

"I thought we covered that with the darts."

"Musa, there are times when you can never be too thorough."

It had taken them a whole morning worth of walking but Brandon and Musa had finally made their way out of Black Mud Swamp and were once again on the firm, stable ground that was the Enchanted Forest. Their feet were aching, their clothes were soaked by the rain that was still drizzling down on them and they hadn't eaten anything other than a small patch of non poisonous mushrooms Brandon had found but now that they were free of the Swamp they were in a good mood (or at least as good of a mood as one could be in giving the circumstances). Brandon had suggested they play a game like the ones his parents used to make him and his brother play on long car trips to keep them entertained (1) and after rolling her eyes teasingly Musa had agreed. I Spy was out since that was just too babyish so instead they had decided on the alphabet game of 'I Went To A Picnic and I Brought' excepted they had added their own little spin on the game.

"Whatever," Musa laughed. "I went to Icy, Darcy and Stormy's trial and I brought some arsenic, a berretta, a cat o'nine tails whip, darts, an electric chair, fire ants, gasoline, a hangman's noose, an ice pick, a javelin and a kiln."

"A kiln? What are you going to do with a kiln?"

"Burn them from the inside out."

Brandon blinked. This was coming out of an Alfea fairy? "That's pretty brutal."

"Are you shocked?"

"More like impressed. Seriously, when this is all over and done you should play this game with Riven. Some of the stuff he comes up with is both ingenious and terrifying."

"You got Riven to play 'I Went To A Picnic' with you? Of his own free will?"

"Yeah well spend enough time with a guy in detention or on sentry duty and you end up stretching for just about anything to help pass the time," Brandon explained with a one-shouldered shrug. Glancing back at Musa, he saw that she was chewing on her bottom lip and wearing an expression like she was trying to work out a difficult math problem. "You alright?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just . . . Do you think Riven really fell for Darcy? Y'know, while they were together."

"I don't think so. I mean, I was under the impression she love-spelled him on the Day of the Rose. That's when he started acting all hinky."

"Yeah, but love spells don't last forever. Even if there's genuine emotion behind it the spell itself will eventually wear off. Riven had been with Darcy for months before all this Army of Decay stuff happened. No spell could last that long, no matter who cast it."

"Maybe he just found himself in too deep and couldn't do anything to reverse it. I mean, I can relate. When Sky and I swapped identities it was only going to be for a couple of weeks, but then weeks became months and before either of us knew it almost two years had passed. And in that time we had made friends, earned the respect of our classmates and each met an amazing girl that made us feel all that corny stuff you think only happens in the movies, but we nearly jeopardised all that because we were too scared to tell the truth. We just couldn't get out of the web of lies we had spun around us and we weren't even aware that we were doing it half the time."

"That was a bit slack of you two," Musa admitted, recalling all the pain that Bloom and Stella had been through in the aftermath of the Day of the Royals.

"We know but you know what I learnt out of it? People make mistakes and screw up – sometimes in mammoth proportions – but true friends will always forgive you if you genuinely regret what you did. Sky and I are sorry for what we did and I believe Riven feels the same."

Musa _hmm_ed and was silent for a moment as she thought about what Brandon had said. After a while she suddenly blurted out, "Riven said he liked me."

Brandon couldn't stop a smirk from sliding across his face. "_Really_? What did you say?"

"I didn't have a chance to respond. He bolted before I could get a word in."

Brandon burst out laughing. "Oh, that's so typical. Big tough guy, always ready to fang it when things get too much for him."

"Well, maybe it's our job to make him wanna stay, even when things get hairy," Musa suggested.

"Maybe," Brandon agreed with a soft smile.

"It's your turn by the way."

"Huh? Oh right. I went to Icy, Darcy and Stormy's trial and I brought some arsenic, a berretta, a cat o'nine tails whip, darts, an electric chair, fire ants, gasoline, a hangman's noose, an ice pick, a javelin, a kiln and a – "

"Look out!"

Brandon had no idea what hit him, but the next thing he knew he was laying on the ground, feeling like a horse had tramped him. With a groan he blinked and suddenly noticed he was staring at a pair of well-worn joggers.

"Well, lookie what we have here," the owner of the joggers smirked down at him. Brandon had no idea _who_ this new person was but he could tell at a glance exactly _what_ she was.

"Great," he grumbled. "More witches."

* * *

"You sure about this, kid?" Caleb asked, flying low over Magix's atmosphere in the twin seat Black Wing jet.

"The theory's sound," Helia answered from the black seat. He had his face pressed up against the window as he stared down at the clouds below. They had a dark, menacing look about them and they were circling like a whirlpool. And order to get through to Magix, Helia was going to have to jump right into the Eye of it. "And I thought we agreed that you were going to stop calling me kid."

"What? I never agreed to that."

Helia decided it wasn't worth the distraction to bother replying. Instead as he looked back at the clouds, the teenager tried to remember everything he had been taught about skydiving. His uncle – Saladin only son – had brought him a series of jumps for Helia's sixteenth birthday so he knew what he was doing. However, he had never tried jumping though thick storm clouds that were laced with black magic powerful enough to knock back carrier ships so he figured he had the right to be a little nervous.

"So kid, I got a question for you," Caleb suddenly said.

"Doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get an answer," Helia shot back.

Caleb ignored him and continued anyway. "If you really are Saladin's grandson – "

"Which I am."

" – why aren't you at Red Fountain right now? I mean I can't imagine the school board overlooking you application given that your grand-pappy is the current headmaster. Plus the rumours state that your family's got money and could easily afford the tuition, so what's the deal?"

Helia was silent for a moment as he debated whether or not to answer Caleb's question. In the end he decided to only answer what was being asked. "I was offered a position at Red Fountain but chose to decline."

Caleb, however, wasn't that easily sidestepped. "Why?"

"Does it matter?"

"You wanna walk from here?"

Helia sighed. "To be perfectly honest, I'm not completely sure that there is one reason why I declined. Maybe I didn't want my future just handed to me like that. Maybe I didn't want the other students to treat me different because of my family or think I only got in because of them. Maybe I just never had much interest in swordplay. Or maybe it was because I just don't feel comfortable in tights."

"Ha!" Caleb barked. "Yeah, those uniforms don't leave much to the imagination but despite your best efforts you still ended up in tights."

"They're fitted pants, not tights," Helia argued, rubbing his palms on his charcoal grey pants. His long sleeved shirt was made of a similar material and had flexible armour build into it since its intended purpose was for levi bike racing. It had been a gift from his aunt (why his family thought he was an adrenaline junkie he'll never know, although they maybe on to something because he had thorough enjoyed their gifts) and Helia thought that it was exactly what he needed for this mission.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, mate," Caleb snorted. Helia glared heatedly at him but their seating arrangements prevented Caleb from seeing it. The next time Caleb spoke, however, he had put aside his joking and had all the seriousness of the military man he was. "We're nearing the Eye. You better get ready kid."

"You got it," Helia nodded, unclipping his seatbelt.

"When I lift the shield the wind's gonna be too loud for you to hear me so let's make sure you understand what's gonna happen."

"Okay," Helia agreed, even though they had already gone through this several times before.

"I'll get the jet as close as I can and then I'll lift the canopy. I'll hold my fingers up in order to count. One. Two. Three. Then you jump. One, two, three, jump. Okay? Not one, two, jump. One, two, three then jump. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Now you've got that two-way radio strapped to your chest. Keep that open for the whole jump. Chances are it won't work once you're in the actual realm but until then I will track you fall. I'll be able to tell if you get through the cloud barrier and then I'll reported to the appropriate people so they might be able to help," Caleb reminded him. "You know what you're doing with your chute?"

"Yeah. I've done this plenty of times before," Helia assured him, adjusting his goggles.

"Well then I guess the only thing left is to wish you good luck out there. I hope we see each other again, kid."

"I hope so too," Helia said, grasping Caleb's shoulder. The man might have been a smart ass but he was exactly what Helia had needed. "Thank you for the lift, Mr. Gibbs."

"Anytime, kid. Anytime."

Without another word, Caleb pushed a button on the jets control panel and opened the overhead canopy. Helia instantly winced as he was hit with the sudden cold and roaring of the wind but he pushed his discomfort aside and focused on the task at hand. Positioning himself at the very edge of the jet, Helia looked at Caleb for the signal. The jet pilot kept looking straight ahead but he held it fingers up.

One. Two. Three.

_Jump!_

The ability to breathe was temporally robbed from Helia as he accelerated (2). The wind rushing passed him was incredibly powerful and Helia was glad that he had pulled his hair back into a tight bun before he jumped or else it would have been extremely knotted once he landed.

Before he knew it, Helia was falling through the clouds. The dark magic was at its less dense in the Eye of the storm but Helia could still feel it sizzle against him, even through his clothing. He was still freefalling at full speed but it felt like something was resisting against him, like the clouds themselves were trying to stop him from passing through. A terrible coldness suddenly pressed into him and darkness lapped at the edges of his vision, causing Helia to cringed when he suddenly broke through the clouds and back into the pale evening light.

Blinking, Helia quickly took in the sight before him. Magix was blanketed in a fine drizzle of rain and for a moment one could easily mistake it for being just a typical overcast day. It wasn't until you looked a bit longer that it became clear that something was very, very wrong with the Realm of Magix.

The City of Magix itself was utterly devoid of the usual light that seemed to shine out of it and was crawling with what looked like insects. Helia assumed that they were the rot monsters that made up the Army of Decay and although they looked tiny for this altitude Helia had a suspicion that some of them would stand taller than him did once he was up close. Some of the buildings were wrapped up in a substance that had the appearance similar to a butterfly's cocoon, which only added to the insect-like vibe of the place. The City of Magix was quickly starting to resemble a huge termite mound.

Thinking of all the people that lived and worked in that city, Helia shuttered and averted her gaze. His eyes skated over Lake Crysalous, which was frozen solid with a huge spike of ice rising up out of it like some thin, terrible mountain, but even that didn't compare to what Icy had done to Cloud Tower. The school for witches had always been sharp and menacing-looking in Helia's opinion but now every tower was coated in a tick layer of jagged ice. Helia had never seen a more cold and daunting structure in his life.

Red Fountain wasn't much better. There had been reports that Icy's Dragon of Frost had brought down the legendary school but Helia couldn't see any ice, which meant it had either melted or had been removed. Rain drizzled down on the ancient stones that were steaming in a way it was anything but natural. The steam was a horrible, dark shade of purple mixed with black, so that from a distance it looked like the fortress was radiating a silent evil.

Alfea, on the other hand, was anything but silent. Thick, black storm cloud hung overhead, lightning crashed around it and it was large raindrops were pouring down on it. The Trix and their Army had contaminated every major structure in Magix and there were large patches in the forest where the trees had died from rot monsters had sucking the nurturance out of them after they had finished absorbing all the decay from the forest floor.

Magix was in a lot of trouble and if things weren't put to a stop soon, the rest of the universe would be too.

Pulling his chute at the last possible moment since he didn't want any of the flying rot monsters to spot him, Helia hit the ground a little bit harder than he was used too but he didn't waste any time moaning and groaning. He quickly unclipped himself from the chute, shook out his hair and started moving. The two-way he was wearing was only picking up static so he hoped Caleb had managed to trace him long enough to know that he got through. However all that was out of his control now. All he could do was try to get to the last place he had heard people had resisted the Trix.

He needed to get to Aflea.

* * *

_(1) My family had a few of these games and I Went To A Picnic was always a staple. Little wonder I developed a freakishly good memory. Unfortunately it only works best at retaining information, such as the entire dialogue from all three Lord of the Rings movies, instead of things that relate to my studies. _

_(2) I've never been skydiving because I'm too much of a wuss but my best friend has and she told me that the hardest thing is just trying to breathe. Personally I think you've gotta be mad to do something like that and I'm perfectly happy remaining inside an aeroplane while it's in the air, thank-you very much. _

_Once again, no Bloom. No Riven. A few of you have been asking about when they'll make an appearance and I'm sorry to say it's not anytime soon, but when they do (*gleefully rubs hands together and chuckles evilly*) there'll be emotional and physical suffering all round. _

_Tee hee hee. _

_TBC._


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: **__I'm on a role with my last minute editing so I figured I'd get this next chapter up. Plus I wanted a chance to wish all you people in the USA a happy Independence Day. I've got dual citizenship so my mum and I like to acknowledge the American holidays in some way and today we did it by having dinner at a western themed steak house._

___Also I thought of another silver fox I like; Rupert Graves. And Martin Freeman too since he's gone from mousy-blonde to silver in the last couple of years which makes him a recent fox._

_**WARNING:**__ GORE AHEAD. This chapter is the reason why I gave this story a M-Rating. There's something else a little bit later that's kinda macabre as well but this chapter definitely has the worst of it. Personally, I don't think it's that bad (well duh, it came outta my head) but I also know I've got a thicker skin than others as a result of my own life experiences, so that's why the warning's there._

* * *

**Chapter Six**

A lot had happened to Timmy in the last twenty-four hours.

He had gone from wandering aimlessly through the forest to being picked up by the Cloud Tower witches and joining their Rebellion. That afternoon Dominique had returned to camp towing Brandon and Musa behind her and after many hugs and tears of joy (from the girls) the four had spent the evening sitting around one of the campfires, trying to ignore the chill of the mist. The teenagers talked anything and everything, finding hilarity in even the least funniest things simply because they were overflowing with relief for finding each other again. They were all painfully aware that many of their friends unaccounted for, but they still allowed themselves to enjoy this moment and feast on a surprisingly large variety of food. Some of the Red Fountain boys must have been sent out hunting because there was quite a lot of game meat on offer.

Once they were fed and their throats were starting to become scratchy from talking and laughing so much, the four teenagers retired to a small lean-to that had been put aside for them. The small shelter was originally intended for three people, but no one had wanted to split up so they all managed to squish in together. Brandon and Musa viewed each other as the brother or sister they had never had so they had no real qualms about the close sleeping quarters. And of course Timmy and Tecna were more than happy to snuggle up to one another.

Timmy was lost in a deep sleep, his arms wrapped loosely around Tecna and the smell of her hair filling his nostrils when he felt someone give his shoulder a firm shake.

"_Egh?_" Timmy grunted, blinking owlishly as he tried to clear his sluggish mind. It was still dark out and he didn't have his glasses on so he was having a lot of trouble trying to work out what had happening.

"Get up," a voice ordered and Timmy finally realized that there was someone at the front of their lean-to, crouched over them. "Brandon, wake up."

"_Gah!_" Brandon jerked awake, his arms flaying out and smacking Musa in the chest.

"_Ow!_" Musa exclaimed and from the sounds of things she hit him back.

"_Oh!_ You elbowed me in the stomach!"

"Well you got me in the boob!"

"_Shh!" _the person who had woken them hissed. "People are sleeping. Now get up and follow me."

Left with no other choice, the four teenagers untangled themselves from the capes that they were using as blankets and crawled out of their lean-to to discover Chucky and Annabelle waiting for them.

"What time is it?" Musa yawned, stretching her arms above her head.

"Nearly midnight," Annabelle informed her sweetly.

"Is something wrong?" Brandon asked, clipping his cape back to his uniform. Chucky was wearing a serious expression and Annabelle looked small and vulnerable wrapped up in a Red Fountain cape. Something wasn't right.

"Seleena wants you four to attend something," Chucky answered cryptically before he turned and walked off, Annabelle close by his side. "Follow us."

"Should we be worried?" Timmy asked, reaching for his gun. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Brandon grab the hilt of his broadsword.

"No, you're not in any danger," Chucky assured him. "Well, no more than we're already in."

"Seleena's just getting the mystics to see what's going and she would like you there to hear the readings," Annabelle explained.

Tecna frowned. "Why would she want us there?"

~_Because for some reason the fate of your friends and the Trix are intricately intertwined,~_ Seleena's voice projected itself into their minds. ~_Now stop dawdling. The midnight hour is almost upon us.~_

The group moved on quickly and silently from that point, and the four younger students were very careful as about what thoughts passed through their minds.

Eventually Chucky led them to a part of the camp that none of them had ventured to before. In fact, from the looks of things it appeared that most of the Rebellion avoided this place. There was a strange sense of foreboding that hung over the place and the eerie mist wasn't making it any more welcoming. There was a tiny clearing where one could look up and see the sky without the view being blocked by branches and in the centre of that clearing was a large, flat rock that was almost completely level with the dirt ground surrounding it. And standing in the tree line just outside the clearing was Seleena and a witch her age that the younger members of the group didn't recognize.

"That's Calypso," Chucky informed the younger teenagers as they walked closer to the pair. "Seleena's most skilled mystic."

"She's from Tides," Tecna noted, taking in the witches dark skin.

"Yes. From Thirteen Mile Delta to be specific," Annabelle added, trying to keep her tone unbiased and not completely succeeding. Generally speaking fairies had enough trouble getting along with witches, but the witches that came out of the Delta had a reputation for being particularly wild. As they drew closer, the younger teenagers could make out the gold bands that were weaved into the Delta witch's dreadlocks and the gold piercings that went through her flesh. It was difficult the see in the dark, but they could even make out a few tattoos around her wrists and forearms since that was the norm for a Delta witch of her age. As the small group approached them, Calypso turned and gave them a grin that made their skin crawl. (1)

Saleena, however, was completely impassive as she observed the new arrivals. "You're just in time," she spoke out loud this time. "They're about to bring it out."

"I hate this," Annabelle complained, wrapping the borrowed cape even tighter around her. "You said we didn't need to watch these readings anymore."

"I know I did but this one's different and I want you to witness it," Seleena said, staring straight ahead.

Following her gaze, the others stared at the trees across the clearing. At first they couldn't see anything but then several figures emerged out from the shadows. There were five witches, all of them seniors or juniors, that each had a two-handed grip on a piece of rope. And at tied to those ropes was a beautiful and terrified deer.

It was a female deer and she was an absolutely stunning specimen. Her coat was amazing silver colouring that seemed to flicker in the darkness and her delicate little hooves were a glossy black. The witches had bound her eyes to try to prevent her panicking, but the crowd of heroes and fairies watching her could easily imagine them as being deep pools of liquid that were tainted with unbridled fear. Her nostrils were flared, her ears flicked rapidly and she kept trying to run for it but the witches had her tied up too well. Two were holding ropes that went off either side of her hindquarters and there were another two near her shoulders. The fifth witch held the rope that was tied around her neck as was forcefully leading her along until the doe stood on the rock surface in the middle of the clearing. There, the witches stopped and braced themselves for whatever was about to happen.

"What is this?" Brandon demanded, not liking the way this terrified animal was being restrained because, like a lot of people, he had no tolerance for animal cruelty. He could watch horror and slasher films where people got butchered left, right and centre no problems but he drew the line the second one animal was harmed, even if he knew it was all pretend (2). And these witches did not look like they were playing pretend.

"If we want to succeed in defeating the Trix then we need to know what the future holds in order to give us the greatest possible advantage," Seleena said coolly, her fixed on the deer that was trembling in the middle of the clearing. "Most witches these days don't really bother to learn the art of entrails reading given that it is such a bloody task. We're quite fortunate that the old practices are still valued in Tides."

"Fortunate?" Musa repeated, a sick look on her face. "You're going to slice that poor deer's belly open just to get some answers. That's just barbaric."

"War was never meant to be pretty and sometimes you need to make sacrifices if you want to survive it," Seleena replied evenly and then turned to fix Musa with a look of such superiority that it made the musical fairy recoil slightly. "Besides, I noticed you didn't have any hesitations a few hours ago when you and your friends gorged yourself on the food the camp had on offer (3). The only reason there was so much meat available was because of this _barbaric_ practice."

"Waste not, want not," the Delta witch, Calypso smirked.

"You said this one is different," Chucky suddenly spoke up, effectively changing the conversation. "Over the last two days your witches have sliced open more rabbits, fowl and a bunch of other animals – including deer – than I care to count but this is the first time you've ordered us to observe. What's so special about this reading?"

"That is a silvermist deer," Seleena explained, turning her attention back to the doe. "It's not necessarily endangered but it is a rare species in this part of Magix. I had my witches out looking for one within the hour making camp here and they've only just found this one. They are considered to be one of the most purest creatures this forest has on offer."

"That still doesn't answer anything," Annabelle said, her tone more confused than testy.

"The greater the sacrifice, the greater the reward," Seleena told her patiently. "In this case, more in-depth the divination."

"That's why you called us here. You think you're going to get something you can work with is time," Chucky clarified.

"Exactly," Seleena nodded. She then regarded the group in with a sympatric look. "I apologise for putting you through this. I understand this practice can be distressing for some people but want you all the witness this first hand and not have it told to you through someone else. You don't have to watch. Just listen to what Calypso finds."

"Okay," Chucky agreed on behalf of everyone. Seleena looked at each of them one last time, then nodded to Calypso.

In order to perform the bloody task without staining or snagging anything, the Delta witch wore a black tank top and had removed the gold jewellery she would usually wear from her arms and neck. She also wore a long, crimson skirt that hid the fact that she was actually barefoot. From beneath the folds of that skirt she pulled out a long and wicked looking knife that still glinted in the darkness as she moved towards the doe.

Brandon shut his eyes tightly at this point, unwilling to witness the horrific scene. Musa was determined to be strong but would end up looking away at the first bit of blood. Annabelle had turned and buried her face into Chucky's chest the second she had seen the knife as had Tecna into Timmy, but Timmy was somewhat eager to watch. He had never seen a ceremony like this before and his thirst for knowledge outweighed his horror. Chucky, with his arms wrapped loosely around Annabelle, had his eyes open as well, although his regularly flicked towards Seleena who was of course watching the whole thing with her usual lack of emotion.

With its head bound the doe couldn't see Calypso approach, it could hear and smell her and started to struggle. However the five witches holding the ropes kept it from breaking free. Moving up near one side of the doe's head, Calypso gave a small bow of respect and gratitude to the deer, then reached under its neck and dragged the edge of her knife across its throat, severing it carotid artery. Blood poured from the wound, looking black against the silver coat of the doe. She trashed madly, forcing Calypso to take a step backwards, but only a matter of seconds – three at the most – the blood loss became too much and the deer's legs buckled. The moment the doe was down, Calypso darted forward, sank to her knees, efficiently found the animals heart and slammed her knife into it with lethal accuracy. (4)

The doe was dead. Now the real work began.

Crouched down near the animal's belly, Calypso parted its back legs, stabbed it just in front of its pelvis and dragged the knife back up to its sternum. The knife made a horrible, wet tearing sound as it sliced and snagged it's way through the deer's belly and once the cut had been completed, Calypso put the knife aside. Peeling apart the two sides of the incision with her bare hands, the witch let the does insides spill out in front of her.

Now that the deer no longer needed restraining, the witches that had been holding the ropes quickly lit torches and held them up so that Calypso could see clearly. Even though she was only lightly touching and gently shifting the soggy loops of intestines, it wasn't long before the witches hands were covered it blood.

"What do you see?" Seleena asked after a few minutes. The fairies and Brandon gingerly opened their eyes but most of them couldn't look at the Delta witch and her work for long before they averted their eyes. Timmy, on the other hand, craned his neck to try and get a better look but there was no way he could see what Calypso saw. To him in looked like a huge, soggy mess.

"Hmm, interesting," Calypso commented before answering the question directly. "Victory and defeat are equally within our reach."

"That means we've got a chance," Chucky noted the positive. "We didn't know that for certain before."

"However, the exact outcome of our fates is dependant on three players; the Paradox, the Link and the Lamb," Calypso continued, her fingertips lightly brushing over the entrails. "Their actions hold the key to our triumph or our utter demise."

Everyone listening shifted uncomfortably at the mention of this these three influential and unknown figures. Only Seleena remained composed. "I understand that you cannot see specifics about them, but tell me all you can about these three players."

Calypso was silent for a few minutes as she shifted the entrails about and closely studied what they were telling her before she answered. "The Paradox is not of this Realm but none will question It's association to it. I see . . . I see a fortress. Possibly Red Fountain."

"A hero then?" Chucky asked.

"No," Calypso shook her head. "I don't believe so but if It was then It would be the best Red Fountain has to offer. It will bring strength but I see no magic or weapon. It is the Doom of the Trix Sister's reign but It will not take their lives. It is moving right now towards them. Miss Seleena, keep your scouts and your mind alert. When It makes It's move against the Trix we will need to be ready to receive It and hope that we get to It before Icy or her sisters do. Our victory depends on having that Paradox with us."

Seleena didn't say anything but everyone knew that she was already making plans to try and find this Paradox. Ever since she had formed the Rebellion, Seleena had mainly focused on hiding it from the Trix and so was extremely cautious with her telepathic powers. After all, Darcy was a talented telepath as well and Seleena had been trying not to attract the Dark Witch's attention. Now Seleena was going to have risk expanding her range so that she could keep a minds eye out for the Paradox.

"What of the others?" Annabelle asked. "The Link and the Lamb?"

Everyone was silent as Calypso studied the entrails closely. The only noises were the wet sounds of the entrails being gently shifted and the odd _hmm_ of observation from Calypso's mouth but as the silence stretched on, those _hmm_'s of observation started to sound more like _hmm_'s of confusion. Eventually, the Delta witch sat back and frowned at the mess in front of her. "Huh."

"What's wrong," Seleena asked coolly.

"This Link is an interesting character," Calypso informed her, holding up and closely studying an organ – possibly the liver – with a confused expression. "I'm not even sure if It's meant to aid us or hinder us. Could be both. There are suggestions to Alfea, Red Fountain and Cloud Tower. Could represent loyalties to all three."

"Or to none," Seleena imputed. "Anything else?"

"Betrayal surrounds this figure. You can trust It not to be trusted, but don't let that blind you of Its value. Creatures of all integrity have their uses in war."

"You sure you're not mixing this one up with the Paradox?" Chucky asked, tilting his head to one side as he regarded the witch critically. Clearly he was having trouble accepting her riddles.

"No. There are obvious differences between the two. The Paradox operates on Its own accord, acting outside of everything. This Link, however, is completely entangled in events. It's a puppet that is to be used by all. All we have to do is take up the strings. And as for the Lamb, well . . . A Lamb is what It always is, and this one is followed by fire," Calypso finished, turning and giving Seleena a pointed look. Seleena held her gaze, her expression giving away nothing.

Chucky frowned and watched Seleena with narrowed eyes. "What does _that _mean?"

Neither witch answered or averted their gaze from one another, telling everyone they were using Seleena's telepathic skills to communicate. Calypso's face didn't look impressed but she eventually lowered her eyes and submitted to whatever her classmate-come-commanding officer wanted.

"It's nothing you should worry yourself over, Charles," Seleena answered, giving Chucky a soft look (for her at least) to reassure him, then turnned back to address Calypso with her usual business-like manner. "Thank you Calypso. You've done the Rebellion and myself a great service. This information you have brought to us is invaluable. Now if you and the other witches would please give this noble creature the dignified burial she deserves. She has already given us so much and we will not tarnish her sacrifice by feasting on her like some common farm animal."

"Of course, Miss Seleena," Calypso and the five other witches nodded and then set to work doing as they were asked. Seleena watched them for a few seconds, then turned and joined the fairies and heroes that were still standing to one side.

"Thank-you for coming out tonight," she said to them. "You can go back to sleep now, if you can find it. There's nothing we can really do until these three players show themselves other than wait."

"Seleena," Chucky said, grabbing the witch's arm when she went to walk away.

"Charles?" Seleena prompted, arching an eyebrow. Chucky opened and closed his mouth a few times but the words he wanted seemed to fail him. Eventually he dropped his hand, allowing Seleena leave. "Goodnight."

And then she walked off and vanished into the shadows.

* * *

_(1) Yes, shamelessly stealing inspiration from Pirates of the Caribbean _

_(2) One of my very best friends is like that. He watches some of the most awful films/shows that I cannot stand (he's one of my roommates and has to carefully time when he watches the Walking Dead because even a small glimpse of zombie action can give me nightmares) but gets all distressed at the mere thought of animal cruelty. Don't get me wrong I'm against it too (hell, I used to work in animal welfare) but he doesn't even like acknowledge what actually happens in abattoirs, which is just ignorant if you ask me and I personally feel it's better to be informed than not. Meat consumption is a part of human society and industry farming is a result of that. Yes, there needs to be regulations and standards to ensure that it is managed humanely (and consequences for when it's not, something that I believe Australia is behind on) but it's unrealistic to just think your burger patty wasn't once a living cow. Okay, stepping down from my soapbox now. _

_(3) I had Seleena point out Musa's hypocrisy for reasons similar to the thoughts that I expressed above. That whole don't condemn the butcher if you're gonna consume his products. Although I can also understand that Musa would be in shock and an emotional creature like her would lash out without thinking. _

_(4) I haven't really researched e__xtispicy (the practice of divination via animal entrails) that thoroughly so what's written probably isn't as accurate as it should be. I do know that the liver is a very important element of the practice since back then the liver was __considered the source of the blood, our life force. __I get the impression that the animal's supposed to be alive but I figured that scene's graphic enough without adding some crude vivisection to the mix._

_So the Paradox, the Link and the Lamb. Any guesses to who you think they may be? Either way you'll have to stay tunned to find out what all means. _

_TBC. _


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: **__Okay so a few of you made some guesses at who you think the Paradox, Link & Lamb are, but you don't honestly expect to just give the answers away that easily? Did you? _

_Alright fine, I'll answer one of them now . . ._

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

Given that his grandfather lived in this realm, Helia had been to Magix many times in the past and had seen it and Alfea in all its glory. The school in front of him now, however, was barely unrecognisable.

Stormy had asserted her authority over Alfea like an unruly child; meaning she had trashed the place purely for the sake of being destructive and then left it without any real desire to fix or rebuild it, not even in the name of comfort. Windows had been smashed in, parts of the roof had been ripped off and even some walls had been pulled down. It was horrible to see the usually beautiful school in such a ruined state but it did make it ridiculously easy to infiltrate it so Helia was grateful for small blessings.

It had been evening when Helia had arrived in Magix but by the time he had walked to Alfea night had well and truly fallen, so Helia made the decision to wait until morning until trying to sneak into the school for fairies.

His main concern had been encountering the rot monsters. Even though he had never attended Red Fountain as a student, he had received some basic training in warfare and had mastered using a laser string glove – a rare and unique weapon – but it was best suited for restraining opponents instead of maiming them. And really, what good was there in restraining a monster that could dissolve itself down and then reform again? So Helia had also brought with him a long knife and a bee kicker blaster, though he was not overly confident with either of them.

In the end, it didn't even matter. Stormy was obviously convinced that she had Alfea completely conquered and in her arrogance she had sent all the rot monsters out into the surrounding forest to absorb more rot into themselves and hunt for former students. That left the security of Alfea to be enforced by several Red Fountain heroes who, if the glassy look in their eyes were anything to go by, were all under some kind of mind control. Regardless, Helia was cautious of then and it took him over an hour to work out the new layout of the school and its sentries from the outside.

Now he just needed to work out the inside.

Digging though the small rucksack Helia had brought with him he pulled out the only extra piece of clothing his had packed; a Red Fountain cape. It wouldn't disguise him completely and he'd still need to stay out of sight as much as possible, but he was hoping that on the odd chance someone did spot him they might just assume he was one of the spelled heroes and overlook him.

"Alright, you can do this," Helia told himself, crouched down behind a piece of collapsed wall. There was only a short distance between where he was hidden and a doorway into the school – six or seven steps at the most – but he had to step out into the complete open to get there with nothing but a cape to disguise him. "Just act natural."

And with a deep breath Helia stepped out before he could lose his nerve and while those six or seven stepped seemed like the longest walk of Helia's life, he managed to get inside without drawing any attention to himself.

Inside Alfea was even bleaker than it looked from the outside. There were holes in the roof and gaps in the walls so everything was wet and drafty. Many classrooms had been converted into what he assumed were windowless cells since he could hear the soft sounds of girls crying. A helpless fury engulfed him and made him shaking more than the cold or the pounding rain. Logically he knew that there was no way he could save all of them without getting captured himself, but it was more difficult than he could ever had imagined to turn his back on the suffering girls.

'_Dammit,'_ Helia thought fiercely to himself, suddenly having a greater appreciation for all those heroes that had been forced to leave others behind for the greater good. He had a feeling he'd cut his grandfather a bit more slack then next time they got into one of their disagreements over whether heroes really were something to be admired or whether they just instilled a sense of acceptable violence within an already flawed society. It was easy to make idealist assumptions about war when you've spent your whole life living in comfort. Helia hadn't even been in the field for half a day and he could already feel some of his opinions shift.

Grandfather Saladin would be so pleased.

He encountered a few Red Fountain heroes in the hallways but they were just as entranced as the ones outside. Nonetheless, Helia still ducked out of sight whenever he heard one moving down the same hallway as him. They were few in number, telling Helia that Alfea's role was solely incarceration and wasn't really prepared to defend itself in the chance of an attack. There wasn't even any rot monsters stationed here. That could be used as an advantage if help ever came.

Slowly, Helia made his way towards where he remembered Headmistress Faragonda's office being located. He hadn't seen any staff yet and he was hoping the office would be a good place to start. As he neared the doors he did hear voices but they didn't sound like they belonged to any adult.

"Oh my god! I am so freaking bored!" a voice shouted, causing Helia to jump violently and feel like his heart was going to beat right out of his chest. "When are we going to blow this Realm and start taking over somewhere else?"

"When Darcy says we're ready," a second voice replied, but it sounded distant and tinny. Deciding to test his luck, Helia reached out, seized the door handle and edged the door open just a crack. Peering inside the room, Helia saw a young girl in crimson pink, lying on her back across what he recognised as Ms. Faragonda's desk. He couldn't see a second person.

"Well she's taking her time," the girl on the desk grumbled.

"Apparently what she's doing is extremely complicated," the second voice drawled in a mildly irritated tone. It took Helia a second to realise the voice was coming from a holographic-telephone that was projecting the image of another girl with pale – almost silver – hair. She looked like she was reading something and therefore not giving the other girl her complete attention. "We need to be patient a little longer, Stormy."

"Oh come off it, Icy, I know you wanna get out of here just as much as I want to," Stormy accused. "Why are we sitting around waiting on Darcy to get her act together?"

"Because she's the expert in enslaving minds and we need that dragon cavalry and spaceship fleet if we're going to blast our way past any modern military that's waiting for us out there," the girl on the holi-phone, Icy, reminded her. "Apparently she needs a little more time to perfect her hold over the heroes."

"They seem ready to me."

"What would you know?"

"More than you. I've got some heroes with me here remember? I've seen them in action while you've been held up in Cloud Tower with nothing but rot monsters and teachers to keep you company," Stormy sneered.

"You've had those heroes do simple tasks for you that any drone could do. Dragon wrangling is no easy feat even for an unspelled mind," Icy hissed. "Now quit your witching."

"But I'm bored!"

"I thought you had that flower loser to keep yourself amused."

"She's still not conscious."

"Then wake her up and stop bothering me," Icy snarled, hanging up the holi-phone without a proper farewell.

"Crabby old witch," Stormy grumbled, rolling herself upright. "Alright loser, sleep time's over!"

At first Helia couldn't see who she was talking to until there was a crack that sounded a lot like the zap of electricity followed by a girl crying out in both pain and alarm. Another crack sounded and then the body of a girl around Helia's age bounced across the floor and into view.

It was then that a lot of things started happening in a very short amount of time.

The witch Stormy threw another lightning bolt at the broken girl on the ground who started whimpering and sobbing into the carpet pathetically. Helia couldn't make out the girls features because her long hair was shielding her face but the girl looked beaten and utterly broken as the Trix continued to torment her. It was then that a rage like nothing Helia had ever felt before started build in his chest and spread through his veins like magma. He had been forced to walk away from the girls in the cells and he had been helpless to help the enchanted heroes in the halls but there was no way in hell he was going to be able walk away from this.

"Oi," a dazed voice sounded behind him/ Helia cursed through clenched teeth when he looked over his shoulder and saw one of the heroes that were under the Trix's control standing further back down the hallway. He hadn't even heard the guy coming. "What are you doing?"

With no other way out, Helia sprang into action without thinking of the consciences and bolted into Faragonda's office. Stormy, who had been cackling maliciously as she tortured the fairy, jumped in surprise.

"What the – " she started but before she could say another word Helia lashed out with his laser string gloves, collecting her on the chest and sending her hurling into the bookcase behind her. She crashed to the floor and didn't get up again. Without breaking stride, Helia grabbed the sobbing fairy on the floor, dragged her to her feet and then ran straight for the smashed in window.

"Hang on!" Helia told the fairy who stumbled blindly beside him and in the next second the two of them were falling through the air. Using his laser gloves, Helia latched onto the roofs guttering and swung the two of them to the ground safely. As soon as his feet were under him, Helia scooped the fairy up in his arms bridal style and started running for the woods. Behind him Helia heard people shouting and the sounds of the spelled heroes scrambling to pursue him. They weren't going to be far behind him.

And above the treetops, the distant wails of the Army of Decay could be heard as they swarmed to aid one of their fallen mistresses.

* * *

_~DOMINIQUE!~_

The call was blasted over the minds of the Rebellion camp, startling many of the teenagers as they went about their morning routines. Brandon, Musa, Timmy and Tecna had been particularly subdued that morning given their fractured sleep the night before and all of them ended up dropping some of their breakfasts in their laps but they barely paid it any notice. As one they all scrambled to their feet and moved towards Seleena's tent, along with the rest of the camp. Never before had Seleena lost her control like that and it was rather alarming when the witch emerged from her tent, her pale skin almost iridescent with intensity.

"Dominque!" Seleena shouted out loud. "Here! Now!"

In a flash, the speed witch was before her and though it hadn't even been a full day since she had brought Brandon and Musa to the camp, it was startling at how exhausted Dominique appeared. It looked as though she had been constantly running and scouting since well before she had come across Timmy and Tecna in the forest (which more than likely was the case), however she was ready to serve Seleena nonetheless. "Yes Miss Seleena."

"You need to get to Alfea immediately. Teleport there. I'll disrupt the magical disturbance so they can't pinpoint the origin but once you're close to Alfea you can't teleport back here without giving away our location. Instead I'll keep in constant contact with you and direct you accordingly," Seleena explained.

Dominique nodded, understanding that she about to teleport straight into a fire fight with no easy way out. "What am I looking for exactly?"

"A young man that will help ensure our victory," Seleena said, a predatory gleam in her dark eyes. "He'll be easy enough to find; he's currently being pursued by some of Stormy's guards."

"Got it," Dominique nodded again and then with a thunder-like clap she vanished into thin air.

"Who is it?" Chucky, who had come running when everyone else did, asked.

"The Paradox," Seleena answered, her eyes closed and her hand on her resting on her head as she concentrated on figures miles and miles away. "Calypso, there's a straggler with him. Who is it?"

The crowd all watched as the Tides witch pulled out some runes that looked to be made out of bone, tossed them in the air and caught them again. She remained silent for a few seconds as she studied the runes, then spoke. "It's a fairy. The freshmen from Linphea."

"Flora?" Musa gasped, drawing the attention of many around her including Calypso who frowned in annoyance. Seleena eyes remained closed and her attention elsewhere. "Is she alright?"

"She's alive," Calypso put simply. "For now."

"What does that mean?" Tenca all but growled.

Annabelle quickly jumped in when she saw Calypso's lips start to curl menacingly. "Are there rot monsters after them?"

"The rot monsters have moved further out into the forest," Calypso said after consulting her runes again. "But they will quickly rectify that."

"We should go help them!" a sophomore fairy exclaimed to which many others in the crowd agreed.

"No," Seleena said firmly, silencing the crowd with one word. "No one leaves this camp."

"But we can help!" a hero from the grade above Brandon and Timmy objected.

"Don't be stupid," Calypso hissed. "If we send a squadron out there it'll only alert the Trix to the fact that there's a unified force out there to oppose them. We're not ready for a full frontal attack. Let the speed witch bring them in. She brought in most of you."

"She's right!" Chucky shouted over the outcry of objection from the crowd. "We're not ready for a fight. Not yet. If we draw the Trix and their army here now we'll only get beaten like we did at Alfea. This Paradox – whoever he is – is supposed to bring us information or something that will be the beginning of the Trix's downfall. Our best chance of getting him back here is stealth, not an all out attack. No one leaves this camp. That's an order."

Judging by the looks on the crowds' faces no one was happy with that order, but no one spoke up to challenged it.

"Thank you, Charles," Seleena said, her eyes still closed. "I need to go back to my tent with my seers to focus. You and Annabelle are in charge."

"You got it. Just get that Paradox here," Chucky told her as Calypso and the other seers started leading her away, leaving behind a crowded of frightened and disgruntled teenagers who all kept gazing in Alfea's direction.

* * *

_**A/N: **__So the Paradox is Helia, although to be honest I think I made that one pretty easy. Everyone that had a guess got that one right. So that's one down, two to go. TBC. _


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: **__Mmmm, I'm currently lying on a couch in the sun on my back veranda. Gotta love uni holidays._

* * *

**Chapter Eight **

Something had happened. Sky didn't know what, but something had definitely happened to get the Trix and their rot monsters all worked up.

Sky and Stella had been enjoying another delicious breakfast of wild mushrooms, eatable roots, grasses and bark when they were startled by a sudden lightning storm. They had heard thunder rumbling from Alfea ever since the school had fallen, but the storm that suddenly exploded from it told them one thing; Stormy was pissed about something.

Fortunately, they were on the fringes of the storm. The rain was heavy but the hailstones were rather small and although the thunder was deafening at least the lightning wasn't striking too closely to them. In fact the only things they actually had to worry about was the wind – which was blowing a gale – and the scores of rot monsters that were rushing back to Alfea. Up until now the scattered rot monsters had made it fairly easy for the two blondes to avoid detection but now they were all returning, which meant a lot of running and hiding for Stella and Sky.

"Oh god, I swear if we ever get out of this I'm gonna soak in a hot bath for a week," Stella groaned, dropping onto her hands and knees when Sky had given her the okay to stop for bit.

Sky chuckled quietly as he continuously scanned the surrounding trees for rot monsters. "I'm just looking forward to dry socks (1)."

"Yes," Stella groaned longingly, wiggling her toes in her sandals. "That too. A hot bath and dry socks. That's on my To Do list."

"At the same time?"

"Sure. Why not? I'll find a way to pull it off."

"I'm sure you will," Sky grinned before turning serious again. "Okay, I think it's clear. Let's keep moving."

Stella stared at the offered hand with a look that indicated that she would rather bite it than accept it but she took it anyway and let Sky pull her to her feet. Sky gave her an apologetic smile and then started off at a steady jog, their hands still grasped together. It made running a little awkward but it gave them comfort much like it had that night they had first ran from Alfea.

"Another thing that's on my To Do List, when all this is over, is to drag you through one of my epic shopping sprees," Stella panted out after a few minutes. "Y'know? As payback for dragging me through this forest."

An amused smile tugged at the corners of Sky's mouth. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"That's hardly fair."

"How so?"

"Well you enjoy shopping. I'm not exactly making you do this for my pleasure," he pointed out.

"Yeah but you're a hero. You're supposed to like being outdoors, exercising and helping people so that must mean you're secretly enjoying this," Stella teased.

"Fair enough," Sky laughed, unable to argue her logic. "Okay, when this is over – after you've had your week long bath with dry socks on – we'll go shopping."

"Good."

"But I'm not buying you stuff. You wanna shop, you gotta pay."

"Fine. You can buy me lunch. And maybe dinner."

"Dinner?"

"Depending on how long the shopping trip takes."

"Do your shopping trip often last – "

"Sky! Look out!"

Stella shout was coupled with the Princess digging her heels in and yanking Sky backwards so he missed being taken out by a huge fist that instead smashed into a tree trunk Sky was just about to run past. The two teens stumbled and almost lost their footing, but they quickly recovered as the huge rot monster stepped out of the shadows. It was one of the big, headless kind and the teens could the trees surrounding them leaves start to turn brown and fall out as the rot monster started sucking the nutrients out of them. The monster swelled in size and slammed its giant fists into the forest floor making the ground shake beneath their feet.

"Stella! Run!" Sky ordered, shoving her away while he simultaneously extended his phantom blade. There was no way he'd be able to take on a rot monster that size on his own with nothing but his sword, but at the very least he might be able to distract it long enough to give Stella a chance to escape. However, Stella seemed to of guessed what he was thinking and grabbed his wrist, dragging him along with her as she started to bolt.

"Don't be an idiot!" Stella shouted as she ran. "Bloom and Brandon would hate me forever if I let you get yourself killed!"

"We might not be around long enough for that," Sky countered. He could hear the rot monster smashing through the forest after them and it sounded like it was quickly gaining on them.

"_Argh!_ That's it!" Stella growled and Sky was suddenly blinded as a bright light surrounded the fairy. Blinking his eyes, Sky was a little startled to see Stella in her winx form, her scepter extended. He didn't know she had enough energy to transform, but she looked strong and determined as she stared down the rot monster that was chasing them. "No more running away. _Supernova Smash!_"

With a swing of her scepter, a ball of bright light erupted and flew directly at the rot monster as it crashed through the trees. The ball sunk into the monsters chest like a stone into water and for a moment Sky had a horrible thought that Stella's attack hadn't worked.

"Ah, Stella," he said nervously, but a second later the rot monster started to glow red from beneath the lines in its armour. Sky was oddly transfix by the glowing monster and so was a bit startled when Stella grabbed his arm again and started dragging him away.

"Get away. Get away. Get away," Stella chanted to herself as they ran and Sky blindly followed her, utterly confused. Or at least he was up until the point where a huge explosion detonated behind them with enough force to knock them off their feet and throw them forward a couple meters.

Ignoring his protesting body, Sky quickly scrambled onto his hands and knees so he could look back at where the explosion had come from. The trees surrounding the area were all singed and smoking slightly, as was the forest floor where the monster had stood. The rot monster was completely gone – not even the smaller bugs that made up the bigger monster survived – and several tiny rainbows filled the area as the drizzling rain fell through the residual sun magic Stella had just conjured up.

"Stella, that was amazing," Sky breathed, an astounded smile on his face as he turned to look at the fairy that had just saved their skin, but that grin quickly faded when he actually saw her. "Stella!"

The Princess had landed a short distance from him, but she lying deathly still on the ground. In the blast she had transformed back out of her winx form and her skin had taken on a pale shade that it had not had beforehand.

"Stella," Sky almost sobbed, rushing to her side and thankfully saw her breathing. Scooping her slender body into his arms, Sky cradled her against him as he gently looked her over for any obvious injury. "Oh Stella."

"S-S-Sky?" a weak voice croaked and Sky almost felt like crying in relief when he saw her eyelashes flutter and then open.

"Yeah. I'm here. Now you need to tell me what hurts?"

"N-Nothing."

"Stella, don't you lie to me. If you're hurt I need to know. This is no time to be brave."

"Not . . . brave . . . Tried," Stella admitted. "Shouldn't . . . have . . . transformed . . . Stupid . . ."

"It wasn't stupid. You saved us, Stell. Now it's my turn to take care of you," Sky told her softly as he brushed her hair off her face. Then the tender moment was shattered by the distant wail of one of the stingray-like flying rot monsters. Stella's attack, even though it had saved them for one particular rot monster, had no doubt alerted the rest of the Army of Decay to their location. "We need to move."

As gently as he could, Sky slowly climbed to his feet with Stella still cradled in his arms and started walking through the forest, silently praying that he'd be able to avoid the Army of Decay's detection long enough for Stella to recover some of her strength.

But little did he know that Stella's attack – or more specifically the rainbows her attack had created – had alerted more than just rot monsters to their location.

* * *

Helia's trip to Magix wasn't going precisely how he had imagined it.

He had originally thought he would simply penetrate the cloud barrier and then spend his time collecting information while he waited for Caleb to find a way to bring reinforcements. He had not counted on making his presence know to the Trix so quickly, nor had he planned on rescuing a fairy too beaten and weak to aid him in anyway while he was being hunted by rot monsters and spelled heroes. But the biggest surprise was the existence of an organised rebellion against the Trix.

Only a matter of minutes after Helia had busted his way out of Ms. Faragonda's office with the semi-conscious fairy in his arms and several spelled heroes hot on his tail, a witch had suddenly materialized in front of him, insisting that she was there to help. Helia had been backed so far into a corner that he had no choice but to trust her and fortunately that had been the right course of action. The witch, Dominique, had used her talents with teleportation and super speed to keep them one step ahead of the heroes and the rot monsters. However she was reluctant to return them to the safety of the supposed rebellions camp, something that Helia was finding to be very frustrating. Firstly, he thought it foolish to put off getting to safety. He understood that they couldn't just give away the location of the camp, but they should have been moving in more of a direction line instead of intricate tapestry of directions Dominique was leading them and their pursuers in. And secondly, he was worried that the fairy he had rescued and witch that had rescued them wouldn't last much longer at this pace.

"Wait here," Dominique ordered, stopping briefly at a dense grove of trees. "I'll lead them off on a false trail for a bit."

"You should rest," Helia told her as he gently propped the fairy up against one of the trees.

"I'll rest when I'm dead," Dominique countered smoothly and Helia only just refrained from pointing out that that could very well become a reality. The witch looked utterly exhausted, but she still kept running and teleporting her charges out of danger. "I'll be back."

With the witch gone before he could reply, Helia turned his attention back to the fairy he had saved from Stormy's torments. He hadn't really had time to study the girl in the original rescue and mad dash from Alfea, but as he brushed her slightly tangled long brown hair from her face he could now see that she was an extremely pretty young thing. Underneath the grime, he could tell that her skin was smooth and rather tanned, most likely from many hours spent outside as oppose to something from a bottle. Her long hair, although matted and tangled at the moment, had a softness to it and Helia could imagine it being quite beautiful when it was properly brushed. Her lithe body was tarnished by a multitude of bruising, some of which looked like they came from human hands restraining her tightly. A bubble of anger swelled up inside of Helia at sight of them and he could only pray that those spelled heroes hadn't done anything too horrible to her.

The young art student was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the fairy's eyes start to open until she, upon seeing his scowling face, gasped and started to struggle weakly away from him.

"Whoa, calm down. It's alright," Helia tried to assure her but still the fairy struggled.

"Leave me alone," the fairy begged, trying to push Helia away from her. Grasping her hands in his, Helia tried to make his face look as honest and nonthreatening as possible.

"Hey, hey, hey. Calm down. I'm a friend. A friend. I swear I'm not going to hurt you," Helia promised her. The fairy stopped fighting him and stared at him, trying to work out whether or not to believe him. And although they were wide and utterly terrified, Helia was struck at the beautiful shade of green her eyes were. "I'm here to help."

The fairy stared at him for a moment longer, before minutely nodding. "You were the one who saved me back at Alfea. When Stormy was torturing me."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Why? I couldn't exactly leave you there, now could I?"

"You left the others," the fairy pointed out, sitting up a little straighter in a moved that Helia recognised as her trying to make herself look stronger than she currently was. "If you got to Faragonda's office you would have had to have passed the cells with the other girls in them. You didn't save any of them."

"It's not because I didn't want to," Helia replied without heat. Given everything this fairy had been through he figured she had earned the right to be a little unreasonable. "There was no way I could had attempted to rescue them without getting myself caught in the process and even though I know they all need help, none of them were being tortured like you were."

"I suppose," the girl agreed reluctantly. She held the haughty attitude for a few seconds then seemed to notice her behaviour and had the good grace to look a little sheepish. "Thank-you, by the way."

"You're welcome," Helia smiled warmly to which she replied with a hesitant smile of her own. "My name's Helia, by the way."

"I'm Flora," the fairy introduced herself, shyly extending her hand. Helia took accepted it gratefully and gave it a friendly shake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Flora. My only regret is that it didn't happened under happier circumstances."

Flora giggled quietly, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink. "You don't go to Red Fountain, do you?"

"What gave me away?"

"I've never heard a specialist talk the way you do."

"Then it's a shame that lovely young ladies such as yourself have been denied the courtesy you so rightly deserve," Helia said, flashing her his most dashing smile. He knew this was hardly the time nor place to be flirting, but it helped distract him from the reality that everyone in this realm was facing and there was no denying that he found the fairy before him to be very attractive, especially when her cheeks blushed with pleasure. Maintaining the image of a perfect gentleman, Helia dug through his small rucksack and pulled out the water bottle he had packed. "Would you care for a drink of water?"

As he held out the offered bottle, Helia watched as the playful and coy Flora slipped away, leaving behind an utterly terrified girl. Her breathing became shallow, her body was ridged and she was staring at the bottle as if he had just offered her arsenic.

Sensing that this was something beyond his control, Helia slowly placed the bottle on the ground between them. Even though the presence of the bottle was upsetting her, she needed to stay hydrated. "I'll just leave that here. You can take it in your own time if you want."

The air was tense for several long minutes as Flora's frightened eyes flicked between Helia and the bottle on the ground. She had to be thirsty but whatever Stormy had done to her had left her pretty spooked. Helia would guess some kind of water torture from the way Flora was acting which was why he kept his hands firmly in his lap when she finally raised the bottle to her lips, her hands shaking so much that some of the water spilt over her lips and ran down her neck.

"Thank-you," Flora said softly once the water bottle was put back into the rucksack.

"You're welcome," Helia responded in a more subdued tone compared to the last time he had said that to her. "Are you injured at all?"

"Just a few bruises and aches. Nothing I can't handle."

"You're cold," Helia noted as a shiver ran through Flora's body. Without waiting for her to try to deny it, Helia unclasped the cape that he still wore around his shoulders and, after instructing her to sit forward, attached it around hers. "I'm sorry but I don't have anything for your feet."

"I'll be fine," Flora assured him, wrapping the cape around her tightly. "So what's the plan from here?"

Helia recognised Flora's attempt to shift the conversation away from her physical state but decided not to call her on it. "I'm not entirely sure. We'll have to wait for Dominique to get back. Apparently there's a resistance of sorts hidden somewhere in the forest that she can take us to. We can plan from there."

"Dominique?"

"She's the witch that's been helping us evade Trix and their minions. You might not have noticed her. You were slipping in and out of consciousness. She's from Cloud Tower."

"And she has a resistance?"

"Well she's part of one. From what I gather there's a telepath that's the head of it and I think she's been giving Dominique instructions to keep us one step ahead of the Army of Decay," Helia explained.

_~That's right~_ a voice sounded in his mind and judging by the way Flora jumped, hers as well.

"Did you hear that?" Flora whispered, looking around for the source of the voice.

_~Of course he did~_ the voice answered before Helia could. _~I don't have time to explain. Dominique will be back in less than a minute. You both need to be standing and ready to move. Fairy, if you don't have the energy to run climb on the boy's back. Do it now~_

Without a word the two teenagers quickly did as they were told. Flora had to admit that she didn't have the strength to run and climbed onto Helia's back, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist and her arms about his neck.

"Not too heavy, am I?" Flora asked, her breath tickling Helia's ear.

"No. Not at all," Helia assured her, trying to ignore the wonderful heat seeping into his back or the faint but pleasant scent that was tickling his nose. It didn't really matter because seconds later Dominique sprinted into the grove, grabbed him with one hand while the other blasted his legs with some kind of magic and then they were off at a speed that left the rest of the world behind.

* * *

_(1) I am a firm believer in the fact that the state of your socks can change your whole outlook on life and I've had too many jobs that required me to work outside in all types of weather for me to ever think otherwise._

_TBC. _


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:**_ This chapter also has a **GORE/HORROR WARNING** but I think it's pretty mild. The entrails reading was more graphic than what's ahead but still, the warning's there._

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

The tension that hung over the Rebellion camp had reached a new high.

Once Seleena and her seers had retreated back into the tent, Chucky and Annabelle had instructed everyone to go back to their breakfast or whatever it was they had been doing. The crowd had listened to the point where they disbanded but now they were all feverously whispering about who the Paradox was and the information he was supposedly bringing to help defeat the Trix. Ultimately Musa had let slip to one of her classmates about the Calypso's readings and the story had spread through the camp like wildfire. Soon everyone was having intense conversations on who the Paradox, the Link and the Lamb could be. It was with a strange combination of excitement and apprehension as they waited for Dominique to return but as the hours passed and anything happened, the apprehension started to become more prominent.

"I wish something would just happen already," Brandon muttered as he and Timmy walked the boundary of the camp. They had been sitting with the Musa and Tecna as they had been discussing The Big Three (as they had been dubbed) along with several other students from Alfea and Red Fountain, but eventually the tension had become too much and the two heroes had decided to walk off some of their nervous energy.

"Would you not say that?" Timmy scolded, glaring at Brandon for a moment before his eyes were inevitably drawn back to the surrounding forest, half expecting Dominique to come bursting out of the trees.

"Why not?"

"Haven't you ever heard of testing Fate?"

"Never picked you for a superstitious old lady, Timmy," Brandon grinned teasingly.

Timmy threw him another filthy look. "I'm just saying lets not jinx ourselves."

"I know you are, but aren't you itching to do something? I mean, we're supposed to be a Rebellion. Let's go out and rebel already."

"We'd get crushed if we tried anything now. Just like we did at Alfea. Calypso seems pretty confident about her readings last night. I think our best bet is to wait for them to get here."

"Ah yes, the Big Three," Brandon sighed, looking up at the overcast sky. "Hey have you noticed as the Cloud Tower witches seem to go all quiet when you bring up the Lamb?"

"Whataya mean?"

"Like they've got just as many theories as the rest of us about the Paradox and the Link, but bring up the Lamb and they clam up. What's with that?"

"I dunno. Lamb's are symbolic of innocence and naivety, not something usually associated with witches," Timmy spitballed. "It could also mean sacrifice or maybe just someone doing a runner. Y'know, being on the lamb?"

"It's all a bunch of mumbo jumbo anyway. I know Calypso and the other witches put a lot of stock in this fortune telling stuff but I'm not sold on it yet. I was told once at a fair that I was going to narrowly avoid the clutches of a Prefect Queen or something like that. Now you can't deny that Stella's perfect and she's gonna be a queen someday so why would I want to avoid that?"

"Maybe they're talking about a different queen," Timmy shrugged, frowning as Brandon slowed to a halt. "What?"

The squire didn't say anything and instead nodded his head in the direction he was staring. Following his gaze, Timmy couldn't actually see anything other than a bunch of lean-tos', but after a moment he thought he heard something.

"Is that who I think it is?" Timmy asked. Brandon briefly met his gaze and then quietly started to move to where the voices were coming from. "Brandon, don't you dare."

"Oh c'mon," Brandon grinned impishly and despite his better judgment, Timmy found himself following after his foolish friend.

"This is eavesdropping," Timmy told him as if it wasn't blatantly obviously.

"_Shh_," Brandon hissed quietly, creeping up next to an empty lean-to and peering around the edge of it. Standing only a matter of meters away from where he and Timmy were hidden was Annabelle and Chucky.

Before the Big Three had come along, a main topic of conversation for the Alfea fairies (and a few Red Fountain heroes) had been whether or not the two commanding seniors had feelings for each other. Given everything that was happening with the Trix and their Army of Decay it was a little silly for people to care about who was crushing on who, but they were all still teenagers and it gave them something else to discuss rather than the strong possibility of their impending doom. It was likely that the two young heroes had stumbled on a private moment that could confirm if the two seniors were getting their own dose of end-of-the-world-romance as Musa had once put it.

With a mischievous grin Brandon lent forward to catch what the older students were saying.

"We can't," Chucky said firmly but Brandon noticed there was an underlining strain in his voice.

"But why not?" Annabelle asked, her tiny fists clenched by her side.

"You know why."

"No I don't. So far all your arguments have failed to convince me not to act," Annabelle informed him stubbornly. Brandon couldn't stop a sly grin spreading across his face. The girl was determined to get what she wanted, that was for sure. Brandon just didn't understand why the hell Chucky was resisting her.

"We have our orders and I intend to follow them," Chucky told her, making Brandon blink in confusion. There were no rules on fraternisation in the rebellion as far as he had heard and a quick glance at Timmy told him that he hadn't either.

"But we're in charge at the moment," Annabelle reminded him. "We can easily retract the order."

"Seleena enforced it for the good of the Rebellion. Sending anyone out there would be a death sentence on them and could potentially ruin our chances of getting the Paradox. Do you really want to risk all that?"

Brandon gave his head a small shake to help recalibrate his thinking process. The two seniors weren't in a secluded part of the camp to wallow in their unrequited sexual tension. They were out here so no one would see them argue, like a typical mum and dad.

"You and those witches are banking everything on these three people we don't even know really exist when there are people out there that need our help now," Annabelle said passionately. "She's out there. I know it. I've felt her magic and instead of going out and getting her you're making us sit around while Seleena and her little speed freak play cat-and-mouse with the rot monsters."

"You have no idea if that really was her."

"Yes I do or have you forgotten I'm from Solaria? I know sunlight magic when I feel it, Chucky."

"Look Seleena said – "

"I know what Seleena said but her word isn't exactly gospel."

"Seleena was the one who put all this together. She gave us direction when we were all running blind."

"We think. We _think_. So far all she's done is bring us out to the middle of nowhere, have her friends spill a bunch of animal guts and claim that they mean something. You're the hero. Has she ever discussed battle tactics with you? Or what she plans on doing when we actually go and take on the Trix?"

"What are you saying? That you think Seleena's all talk? Belle, she rallied everyone to her to stop the Trix. Do you really think she would do that if she didn't think she could deliver?"

"I'm not saying that she doesn't want to put an end to the Trix. I'm saying that no matter how smart and talented she might be she's still a high school student like us. She could be in over her head just like everybody else here and we should keep that in mind."

"Sure, let's go out there and tell all the other students that there's a possibility that we really have no plan whatsoever and that they're most likely gonna end up as one of Darcy's mindless zombies or as rot monster chow," Chucky hissed sarcastically. "Let's see what that does for morale."

"Because leaving their friends out there to defend for themselves when we could have saved them is a much better option," Annabelle spat back.

All of a sudden, Chucky looked tired. With a heavy sigh he ran his hand through his silver hair and stared at the blonde opposite him with a pained expression. "You know that's the last thing I want to do. I go to Red Fountain for crying out loud, but orders are orders. Maybe when Dominique gets back we can send out a search party but until then no one leaves this camp."

"Chucky," Annabelle pleaded. "Please."

"I'm sorry Belle," Chucky said sadly, giving her shoulders a quick squeeze before he started to walk back towards a more populated part of camp.

Annabelle was silent for bit but Chucky had only taken about five steps when she suddenly spoke up. "You like her, don't you?"

Chucky paused. "What?"

"Seleena," Annabelle clarified. "You like her, I can tell. Regardless of how pretty and cute I am you'd still pick her over me."

"Annabelle, this is hardly the time," Chucky chided.

"I know," Annabelle agreed. "I just thought one of us should be brave enough to admit it out loud."

Chucky regarded her for a long moment, then turned and walked away without commenting.

"Man," Brandon whispered, moving so his back was leaning up against the side of the lean-to. "Did not see all that coming."

"Let's just get out of here before someone spots us," Timmy suggested.

"Too late," a familiar voice said loudly. Both boys jumped and saw Annabelle standing right next to them, her arms folded across her chest and a frown on her face. It was rather surprising just how intimidating someone so small and colourful could be when they wanted to be. "What are you doing?"

"Ah, not eavesdropping," Brandon lied easily. "I mean, not on purpose. We just happened to be walking by and – "

"Oh save it," Annabelle ordered and there was an audible snap as Brandon closed his teeth. The senior fairy studied him with a look people often pulled when they were trying to put a name to a face. "You're the squire from Eraklyon, aren't you? The one who was pretending to be Prince Sky?"

"Yes ma'am," Brandon nodded, trying to ignore the familiar wave of guilt that washed over him whenever he remembered the events that happened at the Day of the Royals.

"And you dated Princess Stella of Solaria before she found out, didn't you?"

"I'm still dating her actually. Well, I think I am. We were going to work out exactly what our relationship was once this whole Army of Decay thing was over and clearly it's not yet so – "

"Stop rambling," Annabelle cut him off.

"Yes ma'am," Brandon said nervously.

Annabelle was silent as she studied him again for a moment before seeming to decide on something. "But you care about her, I take it. Princess Stella, I mean."

"Yes ma'am," Brandon answered and this time there was no hesitation or nerves in his voice.

"So if I was to tell you I know where she is out there – in the forest – and took you to where Chucky's stashed the levi bikes, would you do anything to go out and bring her to safety? Anything like, disobeying a direct order from a superior?" Annabelle asked.

An unruly grin spread across the squire's face. "Just point me in the right direction."

* * *

"How you holding up there, Stell?"

"Yeah, okay," a soft voice sounded next to his ear. "How 'bout you? Holding up?"

"Oh yeah. I'm still standing."

"That's good to hear 'cause if you go down, I go down."

Sky laughed and stopped as he readjusted Stella on his back before he continued walking. The Princess had recovered some of her strength after draining herself with that attack against the rot monster, but Sky had insisted he still carry her in order for her to preserve her energy. Stella had once again climbed on piggyback style since Sky's arms were getting tired from holding her bridal style and Stella had point-blankly refused to be carried in a fireman's hold. She was, after all, wearing a skirt.

Walking in silence for a few minutes, Sky concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other which, if Sky was being completely honest with himself, was become increasingly difficult with every step he took. Although he was trying his hardest to hide it from Stella, Sky was starting to realise that he could no longer deny the fact that he was quickly reaching his limit. The sun was sinking into what would become the fourth night since Alfea had fallen and after surviving on very little sleep and even less food the Crowned Prince of Eraklyon was starting to feel the repercussions. His legs were shaking, his vision kept blurring and his breathing was laboured to the point where soon even Stella was noticing it.

"Um, Sky? You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sky lied just before he wavered to one side like a drunk.

"No you're not. Put me down," Stella ordered, sounding rather alarmed.

"I can keep going. I'm fine."

"Put me down."

"I'm _fine_."

"Prince Sky! As heir to the Royal Throne of Solaria I, Princess Stella, demand that you act as both a prince and a gentleman and put me down at once!"

Unable to refuse a command like that Sky immediately stopped and crouched down so Stella could climb off of him. Without having to focus on staying upright, all the fight suddenly left his body and Sky pitched forward onto the forest floor before he or Stella could catch him.

"Oh you stubborn, noble fool," Stella scolded, pulling Sky into a sitting position and helping him shift over so that his back was rested against the trunk of a tree. "Why didn't you tell me you needed a break?"

"We've got to keep moving," Sky slurred pathetically.

"No, we're going to rest before you almost pass out again," Stella told him firmly. "Honest to god, you stupid heroes think you're indestructible. Isn't it strategically to your advantage to know your limits? I'm not going to fall to pieces if you're not a consistent pillar of strength."

"You say that now," Sky joked and was rewarded with Stella whacking him over the head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"_That_ was for trying to be funny. And this," Stella hit him again, "if for pushing yourself and this," another hit, "is because ... because ... just because! You stupid, stupid boy!"

And with that, Stella stormed off a short distance, sat down and started to cry.

For a moment Sky didn't know how to react. One minute Stella had been yelling and hitting him and the next she was in tears. Like a lot of teenaged boys, he had a strong admiration for the opposite gender but he didn't have a lot of experience dealing with them, especially when their emotions were highly charged. Sky sat in an awkward silence as he tried to think of a way to make things better.

"Um, Stella?" Sky started hesitantly after a few long minutes but she cut him off before he could say any more of his poorly prepared words of comfort.

"Shut up!"

Sky swallowed and decided to press on. "It's going to be okay."

"I said shut up!" Stella snapped, her face still buried in her hands. "I don't want to hear that everything's going work out fine and we'll make it through all this and go home and have ice cream. Alright? Just ... Just give me a minute."

Sighing heavily, Sky did the only thing he could do: he moved so he could sit beside her with a comforting arm wrapped around her shoulders at let the Princess cry herself out. He had a memory of being thirteen years old and walking in on his mother and the ladies-in-waiting sobbing uncontrollably at some film about four sisters trying to find love or something. They had all waved off his concern saying that they were simply 'enjoying a good cry'. Sky didn't really understand but his mother and her ladies had seemed quite serene once the film was over (1).

The female species would forever be a baffling enigma to him.

Eventually Stella raised her head and scrubbed her tears off her cheeks. "Thanks for that."

"Feel better?"

"A bit," Stella sniffed, wiping her eyes one last time. "Good to get that out of my system."

"Hmm," Sky said in ways of agreement.

"Like I know we've gotta keep a positive attitude - 'don't talk about defeat or you'll be defeated' and all that - but there's something to be said for just taking a moment to acknowledge all those horrible thoughts and feelings and cry them all out. It's probably healthier than suppressing everything too."

"Hmm."

"So if you, y'know, wanted have a bit of a sob I wouldn't judge you."

"Stella," Sky said softly, a warning edge to his voice.

The Princess of Solaria rolled her eyes. "_Argh_, are you kidding me? Didn't we just have this conversation? You're allowed to show some emotion and not be the strongest guy in the room sometimes. I mean - "

"Stella, quiet."

Insulted, Stella puffed herself up to remind Sky that she was a princess and didn't take kindly to bring told to be quiet (conveniently forgetting that she had done that to the prince in less polite manner only a matter of minutes ago) but then she noticed how ridged the body next to her was. Peering up at Sky's face she saw he was wearing a tense expression and his eyes were fixed at something in the distance. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Sky whispered, staring hard at the place where he thought he had heard something moving around. He had first dismissed it back when Stella was going on about keeping a positive attitude but when heard it again he knew he wasn't imagining things. "Stella, very slowly get up. We're not going to run just yet, but get ready just in case."

Wordlessly, the two blondes got to their feet. Stella clung onto Sky's arm, not really sure what it was they were meant to be looking at but then something emerged from the shadows that scent a chill up both the teenagers spines.

It was a boar. Both teens had known that there were boars in the forests of Magix but they had never seen one like this before. They had never seen anything like this.

It was alive, or at least it was moving like it was but it looked as if it shouldn't even be standing because of all the wormy rot bugs that cover it. And they weren't just on the surface of the boar's body. They were also under its skin if the strange movement they saw beneath its flesh was anything to go by. A few bugs that even had burst out from under the skin, making it look as though the boar had numerous little tentacles spaced out over its body. A black liquid oozed from the boar's mouth that may or may not have had been blood, its horrid tusks were tinted yellow with age and the beast's eyes were glowing an unnatural red colour.

"Oh god," Stella gasped quietly, covering her mouth to prevent herself from screaming. Or throwing up, she wasn't really sure. Probably both.

"It hasn't spotted us yet," Sky said, watching as the boar continued its slow, dazed shuffle through the undergrowth. "Follow me as quietly and slowly as you can."

Without turning their backs on the monster swine the pair started to slowly back away, for once grateful for the drizzling rain since it meant that no dry twigs would snap under their feet. But even though Sky was sure neither of them made a sound, the boar's head suddenly swung around and fixed its glowing red gaze on the two teenagers.

"Well crap," Stella cursed.

"Run!"

With a bellowing squeal the boar started to charge, a few rot bugs falling of its body at the sudden momentum and the ground blackening beneath its hooves. The black liquid that had been oozing from the beasts mouth started to foam and its eyes started to burn even brighter. All in all, it made for a pretty horrifying pursuer.

"Keep going!" Sky ordered Stella, pausing long enough to throw his boomerang back at the boar. It hit the creature in the head, throwing it off balance for a second and sending it crashing head first into a tree. However it quickly recovered and even a boar in its state could run faster than a pair of exhausted humans, meaning it quickly won back any advantage Sky's little maneuver had given the teens.

"It's gaining on us," Stella panted, glancing over her shoulder as she ran.

"Just keep running," Sky told her again.

"Ahhh!"

"Stella? Stella!" Sky yelled in alarm when he looked back to see the Princess sprawled on the forest floor with her foot snagged on a tree root and the boar charging right at her. Extending his phantom blade, the young hero ran back for his friend but he could see that he knew he wasn't going to be able to get back to her in time. "Stella! Get up!"

Unfortunately Stella was terrified beyond logical thought. She lay helplessly on the ground as the boar plunged at her with a deep-throated squeal of fury that had an insane note in it. Stella had no doubt in her mind that the swine wanted to split her up the middle with its awful tusks and she was also painfully aware that her hungry, exhausted body didn't have enough energy to summon even an ounce of magic. She was completely powerless and too scared to do anything other than scream. _"Ahhh!"_

"_Stella!"_ Sky cried, sprinting as fast as he could be he was still too far away to help.

And then out of nowhere a shot sounded. The boar suddenly twisted in midstride and went crashing down as something pierced through its eye socket. Without bothering to question what was happening, Sky saw his opportunity and took it by running forward and swiftly severing the boar's head from its body. The tentacle-like worms that covered the beast's body quivered at their hosts death but then they seemed to realise that there was now fresh decay to feed on and abandoned all desire to attack the two blondes in favour of turning their attention to the carcass.

Stella stayed where she was, starting at the boar with utter revulsion until the roar of a levi bike helped her shift her gaze. And when she saw who was on said bike she quickly scrambled to her feet with a sudden burst of energy. "Brandon!"

"Stella!" Brandon grinned widely as he hastily dismounted the levi bike. The beautiful princess ran into his outstretched arms with enough force to almost knock him over but the squire managed to keep them both upright and wrapped his arms as tightly around her as hers were around him. "Oh Stella. I'm so glad you're okay,"

Instead of answering with some similar comment, Stella pulled back just far enough to place her hands on either side of his face and pull him down into a soul-searing kiss. All thoughts of warring witches, rot monsters and entrails readings fled Brandon's mind as Stella's tongue invaded his mouth, to which he was more than happy to reciprocate. Pulling her close, Brandon's hands roamed Stella's body greedily as he kissed her with passion that he was sure her royal etiquette advisers would disapprove of but since Stella seemed just as enthusiastic as he was, Brandon decided he didn't care.

Coughing awkwardly at the sight of his friends' passionate reunion, Sky retracted his phantom blade and approached the person who had arrived on the other levi bike. "Great shot there, Timmy."

"It's nothing," Timmy shrugged off, also trying to ignore Brandon and Stella reacquainting themselves to one another. "Thanks for finishing him off for me."

"Oh anytime," Sky joked, accidently glancing over at the couple who were still going at it and then quickly averting his gaze. With his face flushing slightly, Sky focused on Timmy and was suddenly stuck with how good it was to see it was to see his friend again. Without much of a warning, Sky pulled Timmy into a quick man-hug. "I'm glad you two are alright."

"We're glad to finally find you," Timmy told him, quickly recovering from his shock at the sudden hug. It had been bothering him – and the others, no doubt – that so many of his friends were still unaccounted for so to find two if them was a major victory in his eyes. "You guys okay?"

"Besides cold, tired and hungry, yeah we're good. Where'd you guys get the levi bikes?"

"Bit of a long story but I'll give you the study notes," Timmy said. He then proceeded to give Sky and Stella (who had managed to stop snogging Brandon long enough to listen) a quick run down of what had happened since the fall of Alfea. Starting with the Rebellion, the Triumvir and Calypso's prediction about the Big Three, he then went on to explain how Annabelle had felt Stella's magic and sent them out to find them despite direct orders not to. She had actually used her rainbows to lead the two heroes to the two blondes and they were going to use them to find their way back to camp.

"So are you guys going to get into trouble when you get back?" Sky asked cautiously. He was vaguely aware of the fact that Stella had started kissing Brandon again, no doubt as a reward for restraining herself while listening to Timmy.

"Doesn't really matter," Timmy shrugged off. "They can't exactly kick us out or anything now can they? They need every witch, hero and fairy they've got to fight the Trix."

"Who else is at camp?" Sky asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. Stella instantly pulled away from Brandon at the question and looked at Timmy for the answer.

Timmy gave Sky a sad smile before answering. "Just Musa and Tecna. They've found Flora – she's apparently with this Paradox person – but they hadn't made it to the camp by the time we had left."

"But no sign of Bloom? Or Riven?"

"No. Sorry."

"Those pesky red heads, aye?" Brandon joked, trying to dissolve the melancholy atmosphere that had just sucked away any joy the teens had had about finding one another.

"We should head back," Timmy suggested.

Without much more prompting, the teenagers got ready to leave. Stella, of course, climbed on the back of Brandon's levi bike so Sky got on the back of Timmy's. But before he swung his leg over the bike, he spared one last look at the boar. The rot bugs had already done a pretty thorough job of stripping its carcass, to the point where he could see bone in many places. The black ooze that had been coming from its mouth was now leaking from other orifices, such as its now empty eye sockets, and had spread like a puddle on the ground.

It was a horrible sight and Sky could only pray that that'd be able to stop the Trix in time so that he would never have to see something like that again.

Because who's to say that next time it wouldn't be a human instead of a boar?

* * *

_(1) The best movie for a theopathic cry session in my opinion is Little Women. I can remember coming back from a camping expedition with school feeling a little emotionally, physically and mentally shattered but after popping Little Women on I got it all outta my system. The bit where Jo rejects Teddy is bad enough but then when Beth dies . . . oh my god. Gets me every time_

_**A/N: **I kept tossing up whether or not to make this into two chapters or to keep it as one like I originally wrote it. I do still feel like the gap between Brandon agreeing to go search for Stella and him actually finding her is a bit quick but if I'm gonna get them all back to camp before Helia I guess there's no other option. _

_Another thing I feel I should mention is that I kinda stole the idea the idea of the boar being eaten from the inside out by tentacle-like worms and then rapidly dissolving once it had been kill from the Studio Ghibli film, Princess __Mononoke. I really love that film and actually borrow from it again in a later chapter._

_TBC. . ._


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N:**__ Okay so it's been a few days since my last update but I have a pretty damn good excuse; I literally couldn't see a thing for the last few days. After five years of wanting I finally got laser eye correction surgery! Yay! No more glasses or contacts! Of course the cornea in my left eye decided to be a pain so I wasn't able to get the most advanced procedure, which has a 24-48 hour recovery time. Instead I got to spend the last four days hiding away from the light like a vampire and have only just been able to see well enough to edit this chapter (after I enlarged the text to size 18 instead of my usual 12)._

_Anyways, I'll make it up to you with an extra long chapter. Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter Ten **

There was a small crowd of people waiting for them when Timmy and Brandon returned with the two blondes. Before Brandon had completely stopped his levi bike Musa, Tecna and Annabelle ran forward to embrace Stella, but while the girls exchanged an exuberant welcoming the boys faced one filled with apprehension. Chucky was glaring furiously at them, his ears bright red with anger and the muscle in his jaw twitching as he clenched his teeth.

Resigning themselves to the consequence of their actions, Brandon and Timmy shut off the levi bikes, dismounted and stepped forward to face their fate. However, before Chucky could get one word out, Seleena suddenly appeared at his side. Her dark eyes quickly took in the newest members of her Rebellion, taking in more than was visually available to her and let out a _hmmm_ of contemplation. And then she gave a simple nod.

"All right," she accepted, before turning to walk away.

Chucky, however, wasn't prepared to be so lenient. "All right? That's it?"

Seleena graced him with one of her condescending eyebrow arches. "That's what?"

"You're just going to let that slide?"

"Well there's not much else I can do, now is there?"

"They disobeyed a direct order," Chucky reminded her.

"They were following Annabelle's institutions," Seleena clarified, her dark gaze flicking to the blonde fairy who had the good grace to appear sheepish. "Besides, it's not like they've given away our position to the Trix or the Army of Decay. In fact, all things considered their movements were exceptionally subtle. Red Fountain should be proud."

"At Red Fountain we're supposed to follow orders," Chucky growled out, fixing his subordinates with a withering look.

"Perhaps what's done is done and I've got bigger things to worry about," Seleena waved off as she turned to walk away. However she had only taken a few steps when suddenly she paused and looked back at Stella and Sky like she was noticing them for the first time. "Actually, keep them close. There's something I want to question them over as soon as we're done here."

"What's happening?" Timmy asked Tecna, noticing that the three seniors and their entourage were headed to where the rest of the camp had gathered.

"Dominique should be back any minute now," the digital fairy reported.

"With the Paradox?"

"And Flora, hopefully," Musa nodded and even though they were all tired and hungry, they all rushed over to join the crowd. A few of their classmates noticed the arrival of Stella and Sky, but they kept their greetings brief. Everyone was anxiously awaiting the return of Dominique and they didn't have to wait long. Like so many times before, Dominique came bursting out of the undergrowth, slowed down and dropped her passengers. Only this time when she stopped she collapsed as well.

The poor witch had literally run herself into the ground in exhaustion.

Seleena had the decency to spare Dominique a quick glance before she turned away, trusting that the witches who had rushed forward would take care of the exhausted speed witch. Instead Seleena focused her attention on the two individuals Dominique had brought to her.

* * *

Helia's legs had felt extremely weak after Dominique's magic left him but he refused to remain sitting on the group like some invalid when some many people staring at him. So despite his protesting body, Helia forced himself to his feet, helping Flora's to hers in the process and turned to address the monochrome witch that was standing before him. "Miss Seleena, I presume."

"You presume correctly," Seleena nodded politely, but there was an air of smug delight about her, like a cat who had cornered a mouse. "I am Seleena of Cloud Tower. This here is Annabelle of Alfea and Chucky of Red Fountain."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Helia replied respectfully, making it sound as though this meeting was taking place in some royal court instead of a war camp in the middle of nowhere. "I'm Helia, from Vallisto."

"You're a long way from home. Just happened to be in the area, did you?"

"Something like that," Helia answered cautiously. He was under the distinct impression that Seleena was very carefully leading this conversation a certain way. "Heard that you were having some trouble and thought I might drop in to see if I could help."

"How very kind," Seleena said with an intriguing flicker in her dark eyes. "Still, it's an awful long way to help out a bunch of strangers, don't you think?"

It was then that Helia caught on to exactly what kind of game Seleena was playing. The witch was a telepath and Helia had no doubt that she had already skimmed his mind and had learnt everything she needed to know, if not more. This informative but light banter was not for her sake; it was for the crowd of people looking on.

~_You're very shrewd~_ Helia projected and he knew she had heard him when the corner of her lips twitched in what could have been a ghost of a smile.

_~Glad you noticed~_ Seleena projected back. ~_Now play along~_

"I suppose, but the things you do for family," Helia said out loud. "And I would have been here anyway if I had listened my Grandfather Saladin and attended Red Fountain like he had wanted."

"Your Grandfather Saladin?" Seleena repeated just in case some of the crowd had missed that. Judging from the way they had started whispering the second Helia had let it slip, they hadn't.

"That's right. You wouldn't happen to know what happened to him, do you?"

"Nothing specific. There are rumors that he and the other teachers are being held in the dungeons of Cloud Tower but we cannot confirm that for certain."

"Actually I think I can," Helia frowned his forehead in thought. "I think I overheard Stormy saying something about Icy being held up in Cloud Tower with nothing but a bunch of rot monsters and teachers."

More whispering broke out throughout the crowd and Seleena regarded him silently for a moment before speaking. "I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves. First I want to know how you got into Magix and what's happening outside this Realm."

"I'm not entirely sure of all the details, but at some point a distress signal went out over all channels explaining the situation in Magix. Within a matter of hours ships from all over the magical universe were sent out to come to you aid. However, none of the ships have been able to break through the realms atmosphere due to the dark magic that is laced throughout the cloudbank," Helia informed them all. "I was able to slip through a weak point in the clouds and I'm sure my pilot has informed the necessary people. Help may be on its way as we speak."

"We can hope but I'm not exclusively count on it," Seleena spoke over the excited chatter that suddenly broke out and then died just as quickly at her words. "I imagine the dark magic in the clouds are linked to Stormy's emotions and after her little run in with you this morning I would think that the weather up there would be more turbulent than ever."

"So we're doomed?" a voice from the crowd asked fearfully.

"Not at all," Seleena assured them all. "We now know that there is a fleet of war ships waiting just outside that cloudbank itching to get in. All we have to do is take out one weather witch."

"Well I'm sure we can manage that," Annabelle grinned, looking a lot more certain of their chances of taking out one of Trix instead of trying to wipe-out all three. The crowd seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Helia, would you please join me and a few of the others in my tent?" Seleena asked. "There's more we need to discuss but I'm sure you and your companion are tired and hungry."

"I would be delighted," Helia smiled cordially for the sake of the crowd. However he was well aware that the discussion that was about to happen in private would not be as light-hearted as the one they had just had.

* * *

It was only by luck the Brandon found himself inside Seleena's tent.

Naturally Seleena, Annabelle and Chucky were there along with their entourages, as was Helia since he was the one they wanted to talk to. Brandon wasn't sure what had happened to Flora since the battle at Alfea, but whatever it was had left her shaken enough that she had almost panicked when her friends tried to take her away from Helia's side. Luckily Helia didn't seem bothered by her clinginess and the seniors were willing to give him anything he wanted. Stella and Sky's presence had been demanded (apparently Seleena wanted to ask them about something) which meant that Brandon, Timmy, Musa and Tecna had just sort of slipped in and were hoping nobody noticed them.

Fortunately everyone was too focused on this Helia guy to pay them any attention.

"So if Headmaster Saladin's your grandfather why don't you go to Red Fountain?" Chucky asked, studying the younger teen like he was suddenly going to see a resemblance between Helia and the old man that headed the school for heroics and bravery.

"I was offered a position but declined," Helia explained calmly, looking completely unfazed by the tense scrutiny he was currently under. "Instead I attend Ossacip School of Art in Vallisto."

"An art school?" one of Chucky's classmates blinked. "You chose an art school over Red Fountain?"

Helia fixed the senior with a disappointed look and suddenly they could all see the family resemblance between him and his grandfather. "Red Fountain doesn't exactly comply with my political beliefs."

"Which are what exactly?" Seleena asked. She no doubt already knew the answer but seemed to be enjoying herself too much not to ask.

"I believe conflicts should be resolved diplomatically, not with violence."

A stunned silence fell over the tent, until the sound of Annabelle's laughter rang out like a bell. "Oh, you're a pacifist. That's charming!"

"The grandson of one of the most brilliant battle strategist of our times is a pacifist. That sounds more ironic than paradoxical," Chucky noted.

"Well I did tell you that he was the Doom of the Trix Sister's reign but wouldn't take their lives," Calypso reminded them all smugly.

"I don't see how I'm going to be much help," Helia shrugged. "I was hoping the battle carriers on the other side of the cloudbank might be able to figure out a way into Magix using the weak point I used, but from the sounds of things that's not going to work out. Not with Stormy as ticked off as she is."

"I was never banking on outside help anyway," Seleena said in a mater-of-fact tone, shocking everyone to silence again. "We're on our own here."

"Then what exactly are we waiting for? And what is he supposed to do?" Chucky asked, pointing at Helia.

Seleena flicked the silver haired hero an irritated look before addressing Helia with her usual professionalism. "What can you remember about the conversation you overheard between Stormy and Icy?"

"Icy was there?" Annabelle gasped.

"Stormy was using a holographic-telephone," Helia told her before furrowing his brow in concentration as he tried to recall what he had overheard. "Um, Stormy was bored and asking when they were going to attack another realm."

"So they _are_ planning to target other realms," Chucky muttered more to himself than anyone else.

"Yes but they're waiting for Darcy to prefect . . . Oh what was it? Um, the hold she had over the heroes she had enslaved. Apparently the Trix are going to use the dragon cavalry and spaceship fleet to get passed the forces waiting for them outside the cloudbank," Helia said.

"Sounds difficult," Annabelle noted.

"It would be," Chucky agreed. "Dragon wrangling is difficult enough when you're just doing it normally. Can you imagine what it must be like controlling someone else doing it? And Darcy's gonna have to do that multiple times. No wonder she hasn't worked it out yet. It sounds impossible."

"Yeah but she's talented enough to get it eventually," Calypso informed them all.

"So they're relying on Stormy and her cloudbank to keep reinforcements out until Darcy's ready with an offensive move," Seleena recapped calmly.

"Which means all we have to do is attack one of them and their plans fall through!" Chucky added eagerly. The rest of the tent started whispering excitedly to one another, but Seleena remained impassive.

She _hmmm_ed quietly to herself and turned her attention to Stella and Sky. "Your Highnesses, I would like you to recount what you saw in the forest before Brandon and Timothy found you."

Not expecting to be addressed, Sky jumped when every set of eyes in the tent lock on him and the blonde princess by his side, but he quickly recovered. "You mean the boar?"

"I do indeed."

"You do the honours," Stella told him. Clearing his throat, Sky described in gruesome detail the rot encrusted boar they had encountered in the forest. When he had reached the end of his tale many of the tents occupants wore looks of horror and revulsion.

"_Ewww!"_ Annabelle squealed, making many people standing close to her cringe. "That is foul!"

"But what does that mean?" Chucky asked. "A pig with rot insects crawling in its skin? What is that?"

"It's the next stage in the evolution of the Army of Decay," Seleena answered, drawing the attention of the entire tent back to her. "When the Army of Decay was first summoned, they were pulling their nutrients from actual decay, so that's semi or full decomposed plant and animal matter. After the Trix won the battle of Alfea, the Army got an upgrade to the point where they could absorb nutrients from healthy plant life."

"Like the trees surrounding Alfea," Helia interrupted, recalling the dead trees that he had seen when sneaking into the school.

"Exactly," Seleena nodded. "And now it appears that they've worked out how to latch onto more complex organisms and I doubt they're going to stop at pigs."

A horrified look spread across Chucky's face. "You think they'll try to do the same with people?"

"They've already started," Seleena stated calmly, which wasn't how you could describe how the others reacted to the news.

"_What?!"_ several people exclaimed at once.

"Who?" Chucky demanded.

"The people of Magix," Seleena told him. "Those very first attacks on Alfea and Red Fountain were nothing more than distractions so that the students wouldn't be able to go to the city and help the civilians there. The rot monsters they sent into the city weren't like the ones attacked the schools; their objective was to capture and encase the city's population in cocoon-like states so they could study a humans molecular structure (1)."

"I saw those people," Sky spoke up. "When Bloom and I made it to Magix after escaping Cloud Tower."

"And those people are just lying there getting the life sucked out of them?" Musa asked in a small, sick sounding voice.

"If we don't act soon those people could die," Brandon said to which there were many murmurs of agreement. Seleena's silence, however, was incriminating.

"Seleena," Chucky warned. "What do you know?"

The witch shot him another irritated look before answering. "There have already been casualties."

More cried of outrage filled the tent. Chucky was furious with Seleena for withholding information like that. "So people have been dying and that just happened to slip your mind? What is wrong with you? How can you be so heartless? Is anyone in the city of Magix still alive or have they all been turned into mulch?"

"A vast majority of them are still resisting the rot monsters powers," Seleena assured him, appearing completely unaffected by his harsh words. "The death toll hasn't reached double digits yet, though I can feel others slipping away slowly. I don't imagine they'll last any longer than a few days."

"Who are most at risk?" Tecna wanted to know.

"The usual; the sick, the elderly and the young (2)."

"Children?" Annabelle and the Winx Club gasped.

"Not quite," Seleena said, a rare look of sorrow entering her dark eyes. "More like infants."

"Babies?" Stella's voice quivered.

Chucky slammed his hands on the black granite table. "We need to move now!"

"No," Seleena instantly object. "We still don't have a strategy that I'm comfortable with."

"But people are dying!"

"As will the students out there if I commit them to a fight I know they cannot win," Seleena shot back, gesturing to the teenagers outside the tent that had joined her Rebellion. "I have a responsibility to them and there is no way in hell I'm going to lead them into a death-trap."

"We have a plan. Take out either Stormy or Darcy."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"I dunno. We just . . . attack."

Seleena somehow managed to make the long silence sound patronizing. "The strategic prowess of you Red Fountain students astounds me," she eventually replied.

"Oh shut up."

"I know it's frustrating for Charles but I'm not going to allow another disaster like the Battle for Alfea. We don't have the numbers for a long siege or a second attempt. We've only got one shot to get this right and if we screw it up that's it. So I am not going to let something trivial like emotion force me to act too soon. Once I've got a battle plan I'm confident with we'll strike, I promise."

"Hopefully it won't be too late. For all our sakes," Chucky muttered darkly, causing Seleena to her eyes narrowed at him.

The meeting quickly dissolved at that point.

* * *

Dinner that night was not the celebration it had been when Timmy, Tecna, Brandon and Musa had all been reunited. Stella and Sky had been thrilled to see their friends, but Flora was a completely different story. She was now a broken shell of the girl she had once been and it was dragging down the mood of the entire group.

"Oh please Flora, just try and eat a little bit," Tecna begged, holding out a plate for food to her friend as they sat around one of the campfires. "You need to keep your strength up."

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry," Flora declined, hugging her knees and glancing off in the direction a few meters way where Helia was talking with Annabelle. The flower fairy had managed to relax to the point where she didn't panic if she wasn't directly at Helia's side, but she always kept him in sight and kept looking at him for reassurance.

"Look, Flo, you know you can talk to us, right?" Musa tried.

Flora decided to play dumb. "I am talking. See, I'm talking right now."

Stella rolled her eyes. She was just as worried about her friends as the rest of the Winx Club but she relied on brash comments and humour in tense situations like this. "She meant talk about what happened with you at Alfea."

"Nothing happened," Flora denied a little too quickly. "I'm fine."

"No you're not."

"Just leave me alone!" Flora shouted, clambering to her feet and bolting to Helia's side. The art student barely had time to acknowledge what was happening before Flora wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. Looking somewhat startled, Helia glanced at Flora's friends before focusing on the fairy pressed up against him.

"What do you think's going on there?" Sky asked, staring hard at the two teenagers. Helia was talking to Flora softly as he rub slow, comforting circles on her back but whatever he was saying had her shaking her head in disagreement.

"I dunno. Heroes Syndrome? (3)" Brandon shrugged, referring to the well-documented event where heroes – some of which were happily involved in monogamist relationships – fell in love with the damsels they rescued. It might sound like something out of a romantic novel but many psychological studies had discovered legitimate reasons behind the phenomenon.

Sky snorted disapprovingly. "Timing's a little inappropriate, don't you think?"

"Actually the time's perfect for it. See, he's already saved her and they've spent all day running for their lives. Now they've got a fleeting moment of safety while a dark threat looming over them. It's the perfect combination of high emotions and the desire to seize opportunities before it's too late so all in all I'd say – "

"Alright, alright. You've made your point," Sky interrupted. "I just wish we could help her. We are her friends, after all. This Helia guy's just met her this morning."

"Yeah but if he's able to help her get over whatever the hell happened to her at Alfea then I don't think we should resent him for that," Brandon said logically which only irritated Sky more. However before he could comment, Helia starting to lead Flora back to her friends by the fire.

"Hi. You must be Flora's friends," Helia greeted pleasantly, trying to ignore the usual awkwardness that always appeared when one individual introduced themselves into a large group of strangers. The tension was only increased by the fact that Helia still had Flora tucked into his side, hiding her face like a small child shying away from a nightmare. "My name's Helia."

"Yeah, we got that," Sky said shortly. Helia's cobalt eyes met his briefly before the dark haired teen looked away and ignored that the blonde had even spoken.

They might be in the middle of the wilderness with an uncertain future looming over them, but Helia's mother had raised a gentlemen. "May I join you?"

"Is Flora alright?" Musa asked instead of replying to the question addressed to them. Her concern for her friend trumped everything – including any etiquette she had ever been taught – and Helia might have some desperately needed answers.

Helia was quiet for a moment as he considered his response. "Physically; yes, however I can imagine that things are still a bit raw for her."

"How can we help?" Tecna asked.

"Just give her some time. I'm sure she'll come to you when she's ready," Helia said in what he hope was a reassuring way. Unfortunately the group of teenagers continued to stare silently at him as if they expected him to depict what happened to their friend using hand puppets, making Helia feel rather awkward. Clearing his throat, Helia decided to ask a question to which he already knew the answer. "So, you're Princess Stella, right? Of Solaria?"

"Huh?" Stella said stupidly, too distracted with worry for Flora to keep up with the conversation. However when she saw the pleading look in Helia's eyes she quickly caught on. He knew exactly who she was; he just wanted to distract the group from the flower fairy clinging to him.

And what a stunning distraction Stella could be.

With a flourish that sent that Tecna – who was sitting on the log next to her – to the ground, Stella shot to her feet, flicked her long blonde hair and extended a delicate hand to her new acquaintance. "Hello! I am Princess Stella, Radiant Jewel of the Royal House of Solaria and this year Miss Magix winner! So I can think of anybody more appropriate nor authorized to official welcome you to the Realm of Magix!"

"I'm sure the pleasure is all mine," Helia nodded, trying very hard not to grin too widely at the blonde's flamboyant welcome and her friends stunned expression. That level of gusto should come with a warning.

"You got that right," Stella giggled. Beneath the surface she was just as frightened as she had been ever since the Army of Decay had risen but she was a princess so she was a pro at acting like she didn't have a care in the world. "Sit down. Join us. Pull up a log or whatever."

Too soon they were going around the circle introducing themselves to the newest addition to the Rebellion. Stella kept the mood jovial and everyone pretended not to notice the way Flora still kept a white knuckled grip on Helia's shirt.

"Wait, I recognise your voice," Helia said when they got to Timmy. "You're the one who sent out that message on all channels explaining about the Army of Decay."

"Wow?" Timmy blinked. "Is my voice that distinctive?"

"I guess any voice is if you hear it enough in a small amount of time," Helia shrugged and when he saw the blank looks the others had he elaborated. "Well, the whole Magical Universe is following this story but given that it's impossible to get a signal in or out of Magix there's very little footage to illustrate what's happening. So every media outlet has pretty much been flogging that radio call like you wouldn't believe."

Timmy paled at that thought. "M-My voice? Across the entire Magical Universe?"

"Yeah. Your report was very thorough," Helia grinned before turning serious. "But how did you manage to get the signal passed the cloudbank?"

"Oh we were on the other side of it," Brandon explained casually.

It took Helia a moment to process what he had been told. "But if you got on the other side of the cloudbank what are you doing back here?"

"We weren't running," Sky said shortly, his hackles rising uncommonly fast. "It was a rescue mission."

"A rescue mission?" Helia repeated calmly, taking Sky's defensiveness in stride.

"Yeah, they came all the way to Sparx to pick us up," Stella told him cheerfully in an effort to keep the mood upbeat and Helia did not disappoint.

"Sparx? No way!" Helia said with the perfect combination of disbelief and admiration.

"Yes way," Musa laughed. "Planet Sparx; been there, done that."

"How did you end up there?"

The girls then launched into the tale that led them to Sparx and the adventure they found there. Brandon and Timmy also had their own inputs regarding the flight they had to take to Sparx. The banter the boys shared with the girls made it easy for people to stop pretending to be cheerful and instead actually having fun. Even Flora untucked herself from Helia's side to make the occasional comment.

And it wasn't long before other people joined their group. Given all the speculation that had occurred before Helia's arrival there was no surprise that it didn't die off now that he was here. Everywhere he went people followed and watched him in case he did something miraculous that would somehow defeat the Trix. However once the Winx Club got talking a lot of them quickly got pulled into their story, especially since a lot of them hadn't actually heard it before.

The story of the adventure to Sparx then turned into the tale of the mission to Cloud Tower and then the Winx Club's first trek through the Black Mud Swamp. And as the fire crack and popped, the sound of laughter floated into the night's sky.

* * *

Away from the fire and partly hidden in the shadows at the base of the giant Tree, Prince Sky embraced a brief moment of solitude. He had silently endured listening to his friends recap their trip to Sparx, but as the crowd and laughter grew a suffocating sense of claustrophobic had built up inside of him. So the second he was sure his friends weren't paying him any attention he had slipped off so he could be alone.

He just couldn't pretend, not even for a second, that everything was all right. Not when Bloom was still missing.

He knew it was selfish and irrational but he couldn't be grateful for the Rebellion and everything it represented. He couldn't focus on figuring out a way to defeat the Trix and stop the Army of Decay. If he was brutally honest with himself he didn't really care about the moral his friends. Deep down all he really wanted was to find Bloom. He could only assume that Seleena had used her psychic abilities to searching for her. There was no way that the witch would have only been focusing all her resources on avoiding detection and entails reading. This Rebellion needed some big guns if they wanted to take out Icy, Darcy and Stormy and Bloom was the Keeper of the Dragon Fire. They needed her.

If only they could find her.

Sky was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice anyone approaching him until they were standing right beside him.

"Campfire getting a bit crowded for you too, huh?" Helia asked casually, seemly completely oblivious to the fact that his company wasn't exactly welcome. That wasn't to say that it wasn't unwelcome, either.

"Just needed some air," Sky replied wearily, wanting to be irritated but lacking the energy to keep it up. Besides, Helia had risked his life trying to get into Magix to help people. It was hard to think the worst of a person who had done something like that. "Hey, is Flora really okay?"

Helia sighed sadly. "She was tortured, Your Highness. And I'm no physiatrist but I don't think that's something you just shake off."

Sky was horrified. "Tortured? Wha . . . How?"

"When I arrived Stormy was hitting her with bolts of lightning and I'm pretty sure there was some kind of water torture judging from the way she started hyperventilating when I offered her a drink. However I don't believe there was anything more . . . bestial than that."

"Yes, thank the gods for that I guess," Sky sighed, understanding what Helia was implying. "She's gotten very attached from you, I've noticed."

Helia shrugged. "I was able to save her when she was at her weakest. As childish as it seems she's associated me with some level of safety," Helia explained. He then looked Sky in the eyes as he said, "But I give you my word, Your Highness; I will not take advantage of her while she's in such a vulnerable state."

Sky might not know this Helia very well, but he had the feeling that he was a young man with the ideals of a gentleman and that his word could be trusted. "I believe you. And you don't have to worry about the title. Just Sky's fine."

"If you insist."

"I really do."

"Then Sky it is," Helia grinned before glancing back at the fire where he was carefully remaining in Flora's line of sight. "However when the Trix are defeated and this is all over with, I hope you don't object to me taking the chance to get to know Flora a little better. Y'know, under normal circumstances."

A sly smile spread across Sky's face at Helia's request and the fact that he was so confident that that day would come. "I doubt I could stop you. I think Stella's already started planning your wedding."

Helia laughed. "She is a character, that one."

"Yeah," Sky agreed, glancing over to the blonde who was entertaining the crowd with the dance that had won her the title of Miss Magix. It made his heart ache to see Stella acting all cheerful, especially since he was willing to wager every priceless heirloom in Eraklyon's royal vault that she was also dwelling on the missing Princess of Sparx. Desperate for something to distract him, Sky shifted his gaze back to Helia who was staring up at the Tree that loomed over them. "It's big, huh?"

"It's amazing," Helia agreed, reaching out to place a tender hand on the rough bark. "A fine old Tree."

One of Sky's eyebrows arched curiously. "You like trees then?"

"Oh yeah. I've always had a love for the natural world," Helia grinned widely as he continued to stroke the Tree. "I've never seen a tree like this in Magix, however. She's old. Very old. Old enough to still have the magic of the dryad nymphs that used to inhabit this land flowing through her."

"Used to? Aren't there still nymphs in Magix? The ones that live in the Black Mud Swamp?" Sky frowned, recalling the small creatures that had come to Alfea to warn Faragonda about the Trix's final attack.

"Yes and no. The nymphs you're referring to are water nymphs, which are a different species to the dryad nymphs. It's kind of like comparing a house cat with a tiger; similar but worlds apart," Helia explained patiently.

Sky didn't know if it was because he was desperate for a distraction or because of the soothing sound of Helia's voice, but he found himself being pulled into this conversation without even thinking of the words. "What are the nymphs you're referring to?"

"Dryad nymphs; the race that inhabited this Realm long before it was ever colonized by man," Helia explained, his words painting a vivid picture in Sky's mind. "Back then this Realm was covered by a great forest of giant trees. Spirits and intelligent beasts roamed the lands but the most apex species were the dyrads; an entirely female race. I'm not too sure how they managed to reproduce but all the descriptions state that they were very humanoid, resembling young, attractive girls between the ages of twelve and fifteen."

"You make it sound like a middle school version of Alfea," Sky snorted.

"Not quite. Dryads are technically classified as a monster race and when their tribes or their trees are threatened they are extremely savage. What do you know of Red Fountain's history?"

Sky suddenly got that nervous feeling every student got when they were called on in class to answer a question they hadn't prepared for. "Um, just that the original fortress was built over a thousand years ago when Magix was first colonized. And that it was a base for the Great Magix War before it became a school."

"And who were the settlers fighting against in the Great Magix Wars?"

"A small indigenous population of monsters," Sky answered automatically and then it all clicked. "Wait, those monsters were dryads?"

"I take it your text books left out the bit where they resembled little girls," Helia said cynically. "Records imply that the dryads had no real interest in settlers but when they began cutting down trees to build Red Fountain and what is now the City of Magix, that's when the dryads got angry. The whole realm turned on the settlers; dryad, animals, trees. There were many bloody battles, staged more often than not on the fortress that is now Red Fountain. It actually got its name after one battle that was so violent that the fountain that's in that front courtyard ran red with actual blood."

Sky grimaced. "How have I not heard this story before?"

"It's not exactly the type of story you'd put in the school brochure, but back then Magix developed a reputation of being a savage realm where only the bravest went and where boys became men. Not completely dissimilar to what Red Fountain is today."

"But Magix's isn't like that now. What happened to the dryads? I don't think I've ever seen one."

Helia shrugged. "One day they just left. No one really knows why. Their numbers might have grown too thin or they may have just given up. Who knows? Rumours are that they retreated back to the wild lands beyond the Barrier Mountains that still remain uncharted to this day. Either way, the land that was once theirs has diminished. The trees aren't as grand as the used to be, the animals grow small and dumb, and the spirits spend most of their time hiding from the humans."

"It's kinda sad when you think of it that way," Sky said softly. "That humans came in and changed this whole Realm."

"Not all of it. There's still a little bit of the dryad magic left. The Standing Stone's (4) near Lake Crysalous was a scared ritual site for the dryads and my grandfather told me most people avoid that place at night because of lingering spirits. And Magix's landscape remains largely untouched because for a long time the settlers where taught to fear the woods, preserving trees that would have been cut down hundreds of years ago. This Tree, for example, would remember the dryads and the old ways of the forest. Look."

"What?" Sky frowned, peering up at where Helia was pointing. At first he wasn't sure what it was he was supposed to be looking at, but when he did see it he couldn't hold back a gasp. There, sitting in the branches of the great Tree, was a tiny little creature. Sky couldn't see it very clearly with it being so far above them, but it had a soft green glow about it. "What is that?"

"A kodama (5); a tree spirit. And this Tree is its mother," Helia explained, remaining calm even when the little spirit faded into thin air and reappeared on a branch further up. "Don't worry, it's not going to do anything. It just means this Tree is healthy."

"For now," Sky added, still a little thrown by the history lesson and the disappearing spirit.

"Don't lose faith so easily, Sky. We'll get through this. After all, you're a student of Red Fountain. That place has seen more dangers than a pile of rot," Helia reminded him. "I better get back. Flora's looking like she's about to fall asleep on that log."

"Hey, thanks for being so patient with her. Y'know, with her being so clingy like that. I know I'm speaking for all my friends when I say I'm glad someone's able to help her feel safe, especially since she's not willing to let us help."

Helia gave him a smile that was soft and somewhat sad. "Give her time and she'll remember to trust you all again. And in the mean time I'm more than willing to support her in any way I can. My only regret is that it's even necessary."

"Yeah, but some good might come out of it," Sky shrugged. "You know she's from Linphea, right?"

Helia blinked in surprise. "Really? No, I didn't know that."

"Well I figured you might want know that the two of you have some similar interests. Y'know, besides dodging rot monsters."

"Thanks," Helia grinned and Sky's lips moved on their own accord to return the gesture. "Goodnight, Sky."

"Goodnight Helia."

* * *

_(1) That's a thread that came out of nowhere that I'm actually pretty proud of. It explains why there's only students fight, those people were cocooned and increases the threat of the Army of Decay. So this is just me giving myself a little pat on the back over that which could be seen as being a little arrogant but I think I'm pretty enough to pull it off _

_(2) Once again, just upping the ante. Plus by this stage it's been something like a week since the Army of Decay was summoned so there's got so be some human cost_

_(3) Heroes Syndrome, as mentioned in Episode 14 of Season 2 "The Wrong Right" _

_(4) Just in case anyone's confused, the Standing Stones (as I've called them) is that Stonehenge looking location where Flora runs into Helia during Episode 13 of Season 2 "Gangs or Gardenia". So that location's canon but its history and all that stuff about dryad nymphs is my own creation_

_(5) Another element I stole from Princess Mononoke. In Japanese folklore a__ kodama is a spirit that live in certain trees that if cut down is thought to bring misfortune. I get the impression that they're similar to the dryad nymphs from Greek mythology, so I figured the two could tie together well_

_Also you may have noticed a few consistencies that I made with Helia's character that I made in some of my other stories, namely the name of his art school and the fact that he's Saladin's grandson instead of his nephew (I just think it works better). That and I liked to add a tiny bit of tension to him joining the group instead of just letting him slip in nice and easy._

_Oh, one last thing; did anyone notice the little nod I made towards Down Land's Queen Amentia from the second season? I forgot to highlight it but there is one in there. _

_TBC. _


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: **__For a while now quite a number reviews I've been getting had included a lot of concern for the fact that we're now into the eleventh chapter and some certain redheads haven't made an appearance. Well now . . . oh hell, I'll just let you read it, shall I?_

* * *

**Chapter Eleven **

Sleep did not come easily for Sky that night.

Shortly after his talk with Helia the Prince had retired to the allocated shelter he was sharing with Timmy and Tecna. Musa had offered to 'bunk' in Helia's shelter to help him get Flora through the night while Brandon and Stella had managed to score a lean-to all to themselves. Although after the show Stella had put on for her fellow Rebellion members, the girl had definitely earned a private room.

Timmy and Tecna had fallen asleep easily, curled up in each others arms, but Sky had restlessly tossed and turned for what felt like hours. Every time he tried to clear his mind visions of Bloom, rot monsters and battles – both past and present – came rushing back in. Finally, after one frustrated toss that almost resulted in him smacking Timmy in the head, Sky gave up on sleep and quietly slipped out of the shelter.

Naturally, the camp was a lot quieter at night than it was during the day, but Sky was still surprised to find more people than he was expecting lingering around the campfires or slinking through the dark on patrol. A vast majority of them were witches, whom Sky had always suspected were half nocturnal anyway, but he did encounter the odd hero as he aimlessly wondered the camp. He noticed that there was a light on in the single white tent, indicating that Seleena was still up, no doubt scheming away at some way to bring down the Trix. Sky had been a little concerned about the Rebellion leader's apparent lack of plan but since no one else was really coming up with a reasonable alternative there was no choice but to follow her.

For now, at least.

Sky wasn't really paying attention to where he was wondering and when he finally did stop he blinked in surprise as he saw he was standing in virtually the exact same place where Helia had found him only a few hours ago. The huge Tree loomed over him, looking slightly ominous in the dark. Craning his neck Sky tried to catch sight of another of the little tree-spirits Helia had pointed out before, but he couldn't see much in the shadows.

With a heavy sigh, Sky reached out and touched the rough bark of the Tree. "I wish there were a few of those dryads left in Magix," he lamented sadly. "I bet they'd be handy in a fight."

All of a sudden, a feeling of drowsiness hit him so hard that Sky dropped to his knees, one hand pressed against his forehead and the other still braced against the Tree. His eyelids became heavy and before he could stop it Sky pitched forward into a sleep filled with hazy dreams.

In his dreams he saw the Realm of Magix from a great height, but in the place where he knew the City should be, instead there was amazingly tall trees. They were the size of buildings with huge branches that reached out and intertwined with one another. They were exactly like the Tree the Rebellion was based under, only numerous in numbers. And then, in a flash that was as fast as blinking, he suddenly found himself on the forest floor beneath the canopy of those great trees. He could feel the refreshing coolness of shade coupled with warm patches of sunlight dappled on his skin. A gentle breeze carried the crisp, clean smell of a forest untainted by any trace of pollution and there was that beautiful stillness that only nature could truly conjure.

And somewhere, faintly in the distance, he could hear the unmistakable sounds of female laughter.

Then finally he was standing in the middle of a clearing. The morning sun was hitting his eyes, making it difficult for him to see but he was still perfectly aware of what was surrounding him. He'd recognise it anywhere. The only structure left behind by the dryads; the Standing Stones of Magix.

While on the wind was a voice so soft he could barely hear it, but he was able to recognise beyond a shadow of a doubt.

"_Sky . . ."_

"Bloom?"

* * *

Sky woke up with a start. It was hard to tell in the dark but he suspected that he had only been asleep for a couple of minutes. Yet for some reason he felt utterly refreshed as though he had gotten a full eight hours. He had also somehow he had ended up with his back resting against the base of the Tree and there, perched on his knee, was a kodoma.

Blinking owlishly, Sky stared at the little spirit that in turn stared right back.

Now that he was close to it Sky could see that it looked rather humanoid, though it wouldn't have stood any higher than six inches tall. It had arms, legs and a big round head with huge black eyes and a wide black mouth. To Sky it looked like drawing of a person that a three year old might creat only it was real and was giving off a pale green glow.

"Um, hi," Sky awkwardly greeted. The kodama tilted its head to the side and continued to stare at the prince with its wide, non-blinking eyes. Sky got the impression that the spirit was waiting for him to do something. "Um can I help you?"

"Eh," it replied, touching its head.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"Eh," it grunted again, gesturing towards Sky before touching its head again. "Eh."

In a rush Sky remembered what he had been dreaming about before being distracted by the spirits sudden appearance. "Bloom!"

"Eh!" the kodaman grunted, only this time it sounded excited. Sky suspected he was on the right track.

"The Standing Stones. Is she there?"

"Eh!"

"I have to get there," Sky said more to himself than the spirit. If there was even a chance of him finding Bloom than he was going to leap at it. Then as soon as that thought crossed his mind, Sky realised he had no idea how he was going to get to the Standing Stones. He didn't know exactly where the Rebellion's camp was based but he knew it was a long way from the civilised part of Magix where the Standing Stones were located. There was no way he could walk there and even if he could he had no idea what direction he needed to travel. When Brandon and Timmy had brought him to the camp they had been lead by Annabelle's rainbows and Dominique had brought all the others in. None of them really had any idea of exactly where they were. He looked back at the kodama. "How do I get there?"

The kodama didn't speak this time and Sky watched as it faded away only to reappear a few feet away. "Eh."

"Am I . . . Do you want me to follow you?"

"Eh!" the spirit prompted before turning and starting to walk even further away. That was all the encouragement Sky needed to scramble to his feet and follow the little glowing kodama. Even though Sky was a lot bigger and therefore his stride was a lot longer, the kodama still managed to keep its lead by disappearing after a few steps and reappearing further ahead.

"Where exactly are you leading me?" Sky asked but the only response he got was for the kodama to look back over its shoulder briefly before continuing on its way. Sky shook his head in disbelief at the odd situation he found himself in but a few seconds later her was blinking in surprise at what the kodama had led him to. "Levi bikes?"

"Eh!" the kodama cheered, reappearing on the gas tanks of one of the bikes.

"Well I guess that takes care of _how_ to get there," Sky grinned, running his hand along the handlebars of the bike. He knew for a fact that the Rebellions levi bikes were under the tight control of Chucky and Annabelle so he knew that his little kodama friend had been busy when he saw the bikes keys in the ignition. However his smile faded as he realised something and he looked to the tree spirit for guidance. "But I still don't know how to find the Standing Stones. I don't even know where I am exactly."

Fortunately the kodama had an answer to that to. The tree spirit started to glow brighter and it started to hover in the air. Sky was momentarily reminded of the pixies he had seen back on Eraklyon but as the kodama zoomed a few feet away with a demanding "Eh" he knew he shouldn't be wasting time reminiscing.

"Right," Sky nodded, climbing onto the bike and starting it up. "Lead on, buddy."

The kodama let out a bubbly little sound of excitement and then flew off into undergrowth, acting as a little, glowing green beacon for Sky to follow.

* * *

Sky didn't know if it was because Fate was finally on his side or because the kodama knew something he didn't, but they didn't encounter any rot monsters on the drive to the Standing Stones. Under normal circumstances Sky would be a little uneasy driving so fast off-road at night, but his attention was so focused on the glowing kodama leading him that the thought didn't even enter his mind.

And as he got closer to Lake Crysalous he became more and more aware of the impact the Army of Decay was having on the Realm of Magix.

All the trees in the area had had the life completely sucked out of them. The ground was dry and barren, resulting in Sky kicking up a dust cloud behind his bike. Pockets of mist became more frequent the further Sky drove, no doubt a combination of the humidity from Stormy's storm cells mixing with the icy cold that was practically radiating out of Cloud Tower. However the freakiest part was that the whole forest was utterly silent, except for the occasional shriek from a rot monster somewhere in the dark. Those shrieks were so startling that Sky almost swerved into a tree more than once because of them.

And he wasn't the only one being affected. As they moved further back towards the City of Magix, Sky could see that the kodama wasn't glowing as brightly and every now and then it would droop lower in the air. Until it eventually dropped so low that it hit the ground and didn't get up.

"Hey buddy, you alright?" Sky asked, pulling up alongside the sitting spirit.

"Eh," the kodama grunted weakly.

Sky took note of his surroundings and then considered the small spirit on the ground. "Oh, I get it. You're a tree spirit. If the forest is unhealthy so are you."

"Eh," the kodama said weakly, pointing its little arm frontwards.

"Is there anyway I can help?"

"Eh!" the kodama said again and there was a sense of urgency about it.

"You want me to go that way?"

"Eh! Eh! Eh!"

"Okay, but I'll be back, alright?"

"_Eh!"_

"Alright, I'm going," Sky told the little spirit. Dismounting the bike, he started walking off in the direction the kodama had pointed him in. Without the sounds of the levi bike revving beneath him the silence suddenly became more ominous, making each gentle footfall sound impossibly loud.

* * *

The band of silver paleness along the east horizon indicated that behind the cloudbank the sun had started to rise. The enormous landscape – ravished as it was – still bore an impression of reserve and hesitation, which could only indicated the start of a new day. A soft breeze whispered quietly through lifeless branches, mist swirled along the ground and between the twisted tree trunks Sky could make out the unmistakable sight of Lake Crysalous, still frozen over by Icy's magic. He had made it.

"The Standing Stones," Sky whispered to himself when he stepped out from the dead trees and finally laid eyes on the ancient site.

A colossal rectangular pillar towered in front of the Prince, its shape blackly defined against the weak morning sky. Another tower-like pillar stood near it, square and uncompromising as the first. The two were adjoined by third slab that lay horizontally across the highest points of the pillars, seemingly without joint or moulding, in a vertical structure that resembled a giant, stone doorway. A little ways over, there was another stone pillar, only this one stood isolated and beyond it was another and another. The place was all doors and pillars, some connected by continuous architraves, others solitary but they were all spaced out to form a giant circle on the banks of Lake Crysalous.

In the grey light of dawn the Stones were that unique combination breathtaking and imposing, so it took a moment for Sky to really notice what it was he was seeing.

The Army of Decay may have ruined the surrounding vegetation, but within the circle of the Standing Stones the ground looked completely unspoiled. The grass was as green as it was the first time Sky had visited this part of Magix, and lying unconscious in the very centre of the sacred circle was an alarmingly familiar form.

"Bloom!" Sky shouted, bolting forward. Whatever ancient magic had managed to repel the Army of Decay had no effect on him and within seconds he was by her side. Dropping down, Sky seized the redheads shoulders in a frantic need to ensure that his eyes wasn't playing tricks on him. "Bloom! Bloom, wake up! It's me, Sky! Oh please wake up. Please, please, _please_."

At first there was no response from the Last Princess of Sparx, making Sky's heart ache horribly, but then her eyes scrunched together tightly in the way people do when trying to fight the pulls of consciousness. And then she let out a weak and sleepy sounding "_Mmmmh_."

"Bloom?" Sky whispered gently. His heart was pounding in his chest and he was sure he felt it faltered for a second as Bloom's eyes fluttered open, allowing him to gaze into those amazing blue orbs he adored so much.

"Sky?"

"Oh thank gods!" Sky gasped, pulling Bloom upright and into a desperate embrace. It took a second for Bloom's sluggish mind to catch on to what was happening but when it did she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back just as tight. "I thought I'd lost you."

"Looks more like you're the one who found me," Bloom replied, causing Sky to choke out a sound that was halfway between a laugh and a sob of relief. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too," Sky admitted, leaning back just far enough that he would look at the fairy again without breaking contact with her. "Oh, you have no idea how much."

Bloom blushed adorably before squeezing her eyes shut and placing a hand on her head. "Oh, I feel all groggy. Like I've just woken up from a really deep sleep or something."

"I have a feeling that that's exactly what you've done," Sky said with a sad smile as he patted her bright, beautiful hair. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"The last thing?" Bloom blinked in confusion and then Sky could see the exact moment when her memory kicked in. "The Army of Decay! The witches!"

"Shhh. Calm down," Sky tried to sooth her and not really succeeding.

"What happened?" Bloom demanded and when Sky hesitated she gripped his arms firmly. "Sky, what happened?"

"We lost," was Sky's simple reply. "You and Icy went off to battle it out one-on-one but when she returned and you didn't it seemed to signal the end. Icy, Darcy and Stormy took out every defensive or offensive strategy we had and by night time, Alfea had fallen."

"No," Bloom gasped, her voice no more than a whisper. Her blue eyes were wide and Sky could see tears start to well in them. "Not Alfea."

"I'm so sorry, Bloom."

"Does that mean . . . Is everyone else . . ."

"There are apparently a number of students being held as prisoners in Alfea and Red Fountain while the teachers are in the dungeons of Cloud Tower. However there is a large number of students who escaped the rot monsters and have banded together to form a rebellion. We're not going to let those witches get away with this. I promise you."

Bloom looked a little shell-shocked but she still managed to understand what Sky was telling her as well as picking up on things he wasn't saying. "How long was I out?"

Sky hesitated. "Bloom – "

"No, I want to know. You just can't gather all that information about where teachers and other students are or form a rebellion in the space of one night. How long was I out?"

Sky sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his hair. "This will be the fourth day since Alfea fell."

"F-F-Four . . . Four days?"

"Yeah."

"Oh my god," Bloom covered her mouth. "I don't remember any of that? Last thing I remember was fighting Icy and the next thing I know you're here and four days have passed. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god."

"Bloom! You need to stop this," Sky said firmly. "I think you've been asleep for this long because you needed to be kept safe until someone like me could find you and take you back to the Rebellion. I mean, look at where you are."

"The Standing Stones?"

"Yes. Apparently they belonged to the dryad nymphs who live in the forest centuries ago and fought against the first settlement. The dryads are now gone but the trees and these Stones still have a bit of their magic left. In some strange way the Realm of Magix itself is fighting back against the Trix and their Army of Decay. I didn't just stumble across you, Bloom. I was led here on purpose and now it's my turn to take you back to the Rebellion so you can help us defeat the Trix once and for all."

Without any warning or hesitation, Bloom suddenly grabbed the front of his uniform, dragged him forward and slotted her lips against his. For a brief second Sky simple stared cross-eyed at her – too shocked to really appreciate what was going on – but then his awareness returned and he quickly threw himself into returning the kiss. His arms wrapped themselves tightly around her delicate body to hold her tight up against his chest. His eyes slide shut of their own accord and his tongue ran itself across her lips teasingly.

When they finally pulled away from one another, both teens were flushed and both wearing identical goofy grins.

"Wow," Bloom panted breathlessly.

"Wow," Sky repeated, his gaze being continuously drawn from her stunning eyes back to her amazingly soft lips.

"We should . . ." Bloom swallowed. "We should get back to the others."

"Yeah," Sky agreed, leaning in to kiss her one more time before he had to lead her back to his levi bike and the kudoma that would show them the way back to camp.

* * *

_**A/N: **__There we are. Bloom's finally entered the game. We can all relax for a little bit. _

_I actually wrote this chapter a while back but then went back and rewrote it after visiting the actual Stonehenge in England. Oh my god, what an incredible location. I thought the highlight of my trip to Europe would be seeing the Eiffel Tower at night (because, c'mon, isn't that every girls dream?) so I was not prepared for just how stunning and atmospheric Stonehenge would be. And so brilliantly preserved. Barely any fences around the Stones themselves so you can get some brilliant shots. And then you get these little audio-tours that gives you mind blowing information about the place like how this stone here gets hit by the first rays of a sunrise only on the summer solstice and that one over there does it on the winter solstice. Oh when you turn around, see looks at those little hillocks? Yeah, they're barrows. WTF? _

_And at the end of the audio-tour there was a little readying from "_**Tess of the D'Urbavilles**_**"**__ by the novelist Thomas Hardy (not to be confused with Tom Hardy, the very sexy actor who able to reduce me to a puddle of goo with his sexy accent and sexy eyes and sexy lips and just sexy sexiness) which I drew upon/stole to improve this chapter. _

_Mmm, and now all I'm thinking about is Tom Hardy's tattoos. He's got like over twenty so this may take some time. TBC. _


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve **

Even though it had always been part of their plans, Darcy had been less than thrilled when she had been given Red Fountain, and it was all Icy's fault.

Back when the three sisters had originally come up with the idea to each inhabit a school as they waited for the next stage of their attack, Darcy had been delighted at the prospect of having a famous fortress with a bloody past as her haunt. Having a whole school's worth of bewitched heroes at her whim was just a bonus. However that was before Icy and her stupid Dragon of Frost went and smashed it to the point where it was just one rockslide away from the whole castle crashing down.

Darcy had of course taken her revenge against her sister, but in her own unique way. The day after their victory at Alfea, Darcy had wasted time and energy sending some of the heroes under her control into the City of Magix to do a bit of shopping on her behalf. She was supposed to be focusing all her attention on perfecting the grip her had on the heroes minds but Darcy had deemed making her lodgings more liveable of greater important.

That was the reason why Professor Saladin's former office was now decked out with objects that the old wizard would have never purchased for himself.

"I don't see why I have to do it," Darcy said impassively, slouched back in her grand leather chair. In her right hand was an insanely expensive crystal glass that held a finger of equally expensive cognac and her left hand was absentmindedly caressing the black mink fur coat she had wrapped around her. The Dark Witch had preferred to keep the castle as shadowy as possible, so the rooms only source of light came from an open fire that, despite its size, gave off very little heat. This was exactly the kind of environment Darcy favoured.

Through the gloom, Icy glared at her over the holi-phone. _"I'm just asking you to send out some scouts to search for any trace of whoever broke into Alfea yesterday and rescued that Jinx Club loser. It's not that big a deal." _

"Well then may I also remind you that you've got me weaving an extremely complicated hypnotic spell over the minds almost fifty people? I'm having to prefect that delicate balance between total submissive and somehow giving them enough awareness to wrangle dragons and fly squad ships. That's not an easy job, Icy," Darcy hissed. "Besides, prisoner round up and management was Stormy's responsibility."

"_It was and guess what? She screwed up – " _

"Shock."

" – _so we've got to fix it."_

"And by _we_ you mean _me_."

"_Well you're the one with the resources,"_ Icy spat.

"My boys aren't ready yet," Darcy told her firmly.

"_Oh dragonshit. You might not have __**all**__ those losers ready yet but I'm sure there's a few under your complete control,"_ Icy said before smirking smugly. _"I know for a fact that you've got at least one utterly wrapped around your finger."_

Darcy did a fantastic job at not reacting to whom she knew Icy was referring to. "If you're so worried why don't you go out looking for prisoners? It's not like you're doing anything."

"_You take that back, wi-__**atch**__! I've analysing our current strategies and numbers."_

"Well now I'm worried too," Darcy said dryly.

"_Shut up! You know, you should be worried because there's a large number of students that aren't accounted for,"_ Icy told her, riffling through some papers. _"We're missing eighteen percent of the Red Fountain student body, twenty-one percent of Alfea's and a staggering eighty-six percent of Cloud Tower students, which by the way includes the entire senior class. We have sent rot monster out in every direction and they've only managed to bring in a few stragglers so where the hell the rest hiding?!"_

Darcy _hmm_ed as she considered Icy's statistics and she had couldn't deny that they were troubling. While there was no one at Cloud Tower that could every truly match the Trix's level of magic there were a few that had enough talent to be a nuisance. "You don't think they're trying to put together some kind of resistance?"

"_I don't know but if they are we need to hunt them down and crush them before they try __**anything**__." _

With a heavy sigh Darcy gave in. "Fine. I'll send a few dragon riders out and see if they can find anything."

"_Good,"_ Icy snapped and then ended the holi-phone call without another word.

"Eh," Darcy _huff_ed with a roll of her eyes. Downing the last of her drink, the Dark Witch left the glass on the desk and climbed to her feet. Her mink coat fell open to reveal that she was only wearing a black lace bra and panties underneath (1). Far from bashful, Darcy calmly sauntered towards another new addition to Saladin's former office; a large dark mahogany bed.

And lying on his stomach under the black silk sheets was her most thoroughly spelled hero.

"Wake up, puppy dog," Darcy commanded, climbing onto the bed alongside him. Even though he gave all the appearances of being completely asleep Darcy knew he was only really in a light doze. It was so much easier to overpower an exhausted mind than an alert one, which was why she had prevented all her heroes from getting any true rest. Running her long fingernails up his bare back, Darcy smiled smugly to herself as he immediately started to stir in response. He was so perfectly obedient now. "I need you to do something for me."

The hero rolled over and dull, distant violet eyes regarded her in a look of total submission.

* * *

When Timmy and Tecna woke up to find that they were alone in their crudely built shelter they decided not to get up right away and lie in instead. They didn't really talk but held each other close as they soaked up their shared heat. It was so comfortable and comforting that by the time they did get up and made their way to one of the campfires, they found that the rest of their friends were already halfway through their breakfasts. And being as smart as they both were they quickly counted that they were one person short.

"Where's Sky?" Timmy asked picking a piece of untouched meat off Brandon's plate. When it hit his tongue he identified it as rabbit and was thankful Bloom wasn't here.

A concerned look settled on Brandon's face. "He's not with you?"

"No," Tecna answered. "He wasn't there when we woke up."

"We figured he had gotten up early and found you guys," Timmy admitted, starting to feel very foolish for just assuming something like that. As the witches of the Rebellion kept reminding them, they were at war and it was dangerous to make assumptions like that.

Brandon quickly stood. "I'll find him."

"He might just want some time to himself," Helia pointed out. While he admittedly didn't know the Prince's character very well and agreed that – given the current circumstances – it would be a good idea to locate him, he didn't think it was necessary for them jump to the worst possibility.

Brandon, on the other hand, did think it necessary. "Well he can have that time to himself as soon as I'm done smacking him over the head for slinking off without telling anyone."

"Are you missing someone?" a new voice asked, and even heads spun around to see Chucky standing behind them. Other heroes from his entourage were scattered about speaking to nearby groups, although many of them were now watching Chucky with obvious interest.

"Um, maybe," Brandon replied hesitantly.

"We just kinda noticed that our friend Sky's not here," Stella explained and no one missed the looks Chucky's entourage gave each other. "Is something wrong?"

Chucky regarded them for a moment before answering. "One of our levi bikes went missing last night."

"_What?"_ several people said at once.

"Are you sure?" Helia pressed.

"I'm sure," Chucky said firmly. "The Rebellion doesn't have many bikes and they're a valuable resource to us. So much so that the keys to those bikes are under my personal watch and yet somehow someone managed to lift a set from me and then sneak off in the middle of – "

"Shh!" Musa suddenly shushed him, getting to her feet and staring off into the surrounding trees and mist.

Chucky looked quite affronted. "Did you just shush me?"

"_Shhh!"_ Musa stressed again. "Can anyone else hear that?"

"Harmonic Nebular," Brandon said when he saw Chucky and his friends confused faces.

Everyone seemed to click in understanding. "Oh."

"What do you hear?" Tecna asked her roommate.

"Something's coming," Musa assured them all.

A small crowd had started to gather near them, all listening for whatever it was Musa could hear. At some point Annabelle appeared at Chucky's side. "What is it?"

"We're not sure," Chucky whispered back as he peered into the mist.

"Wait! I think I hear something too," Flora suddenly jumped up, looking more animated than she had been since her captured.

Musa folded her across her chest. "Well yeah. I'm not just making this stuff up, y'know."

Flora was almost ecstatic. "The trees are really excited!"

Now it was Musa's turn to give her friend a weird look. "Right. The trees are excited."

"No, really! Look!"

Several jaws dropped open in surprise as the surrounding trees suddenly started to quiver and an exuberant sound similar to something that might come from a wooden percussions kit filled the air. The wind picked up, causing as few damp leaves to fall loose and spin through the air like dancers to an accompaniment of birdsongs, the first anyone had heard in days. And then out of the undergrowth and the mist burst the missing levi bike and its two passengers.

"Sky!" Brandon called out, but his voice was lost as Flora, Musa, Tecna and Stella all squealed as one.

"_Bloom!"_

"I don't believe it," Chucky gasped, rooted to the spot in shock, as were many others who had witnessed the arrival. In fact the only ones who seemed able to move were the Winx Club who all rushed over to the bike to embrace their friend before she had even finished dismounting. Once Bloom was fully standing, the group of girls then descended into a huddle of tears, laughter and undistinguishable chatter as they continued to hug one another tightly.

"How'd you find her?" Timmy asked an approaching Sky who was grinning widely at the reunion.

"I had a bit of help," the Prince admitted, looking back over his shoulder at the little Kodoma that was zooming back into the canopy of the Tree. His cryptic answer confused a lot of people, but he did notice a knowing smile creep across Helia's face that he returned full force. Sky then held up the levi bike keys to Chucky. "These are yours, I presume."

"You should be reprimanded for taking that bike without permission," Chucky pointed out as he accepted the keys. "But, given who it was that you found, I'm willing to over look it. This time."

"I appreciate that," Sky nodded, still smiling.

Chucky then laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "You did good, kid."

Annabelle showed her appreciation by giving Sky a quick kiss on the cheek. By now a large crowd had gathered – eager to see if it was true that the Last Princess of Sparx had finally been found – so the Prince couldn't help but blush little bit.

"We've got the Dragon Fire!" someone in the crowd shouted and a sudden roar went up. People were clapping, cheering and stamping their feet in jubilation. There were loud claims that this would change everything. That the Rebellion would win and the Trix would lose. That this would ensure their victory.

_~Let's not go planning our victory dinner too soon. This war hasn't been won just yet~_ Seleena's thoughts projected across every mind in the crowd, silencing the commotion_. ~Charles, Annabelle, would you please escort Her Highness to my tent. I will be with you shortly. The rest of you please return to the tasks you have been assigned so that we are ready for the time when the Final Battle actually begins. Thank you~_

* * *

Seleena's tent was empty when the group arrived which gave them time to get Bloom settled into one of the chairs as well as introducing her to Annabelle and Chucky. At Annabelle's request some food and water were brought for Bloom by a senior fairy that didn't linger. In the past Seleena had no issue with Chucky and Annabelle having members of their entourage present for meetings, but this time it was silently agreed that the only people in attendance would be the Triumvir and members of Bloom's support network.

The red haired fairy appeared somewhat overwhelmed by everything, which no one would ever blamed her for. Her hands shook slightly as she drank the water brought for her and didn't even touch the food. Stella sat to her right, their elbows linked in a possessive way that Bloom barely seemed to notice. Sky stood on her left with sturdy hand resting on her shoulder in a display of support. They were a unified force, ready to leap into action like a pair of blonde guard dogs if anyone tried to threaten their beloved Bloom. Their faces were stern and defensive when the opening of the tent blew open and Seleena strode in, wiping her hands on a piece of cloth.

"Sorry about the wait. Calypso and I were just going over something," Seleena explained, tossing the piece of cloth aside and moving to a basin of water to clean her hands more thoroughly. Anyone observant enough noticed that the cloth she hand just thrown away had a reddish tint to it, leaving little speculation about what it was exactly that she and Calypso had been going over. Once her hands were clean, Seleena slipped her gloves back on calmly approached the chair directly opposite Bloom but did not sit down. "Hello, my name is Seleena."

"Hi," Bloom replied meekly, her shoulders hunched as if she was trying to make herself smaller and less of a target.

"Have you heard of me?"

"Um, Sky told me a little bit," Bloom said, briefly glancing at the Prince before returning her blue eyed gaze back to Seleena's cold, dark one. "You're the one who started the Rebellion. Who brought everyone here and who's been trying to work out a strategy to fight the Witches. I-I-I mean, the Trix."

"Very good," Seleena practically purred, lowing herself down into her chair so smoothly it was like liquid shadow. With her elbow resting on the arm of the chair she brought her fingers up to delicately place them on her chin as she studied the fairy across from her intently.

It was obvious that this was the game changer Seleena had been waiting for and even though Sky could understand that it didn't mean he approved of the way she watched Bloom like a cat watching a canary. Her excitement caused her pale skin to become almost luminescent and at the right angle there was almost a silver gleam in her eyes. However, as far as movement went, the witch kept any emotion tightly contained beneath still composer.

"Now I'm going to assume that I don't need to explain what our primary objective is," Seleena predicted. "And at this point, information is critical. You were the only one to ever fight Icy one-on-one after she achieved possession of the Dragon Fire. I've duelled Icy before – back at Cloud Tower – but what I need to know now is how this new power has changed her magic."

"Take your time," Annabelle added gently when she noticed Bloom hesitate and Sky suddenly felt a wave of gratitude for the rainbow fairy. Seleena might be calling the shots, but Alfea fairies were Annabelle's responsibility and Sky could tell that she took their protection very seriously.

"Um, well, I guess I should start off by saying that her powers still very much ice-based. There's not much fire to it, if you get what I mean," Bloom shrugged, talking to her hands that were clasped in front of her on the table. "But I did notice that her attacks felt different to the ones I've experienced from her in the past. Like, it's cold but it's a burning cold. And when she summons it, you get this sense that she's tapping into some . . . infinite supply. It's . . ." Bloom shivered and then continued. "It's overwhelming. I just can't believe she's using the Dragon Fire to do . . . do all this. I mean, it's my magic and it's . . . it's . . ."

"Well, if you're looking for someone who can turn the most positive magical force in the universe evil, you can count on Icy," Stella tried to joke as she watched her best friends emotions start to get the better of her.

"I don't think it's a matter of good or evil," Helia interjected. "The Dragon Fire is power, plain and simple. It doesn't have morals or agendas. All that depends on the person wielding it, which in this case is Icy, Darcy and Stormy."

"And I think that in some way it's affecting them," Bloom added, her composure more or less back in place. "When I was fighting Icy that last time there were moments where . . . I don't know how to explain it. It was like she was kind of drunk on the power. As well as something else. Something more . . ."

"Reptilian," Seleena supplied, her voice indicating that it was exactly the word Bloom was looking for. The Telepath then shifted in her seat, leaning forward and bracing both her elbows on the table with her fingers threaded together in front of her face. Her dark gaze locked onto Bloom's and the freshmen fairy was unable to look away. "You're scared of her, aren't you?"

"Yes," Bloom answered in a small voice.

"You believe her to be stronger than you?"

"Yes."

"And if it was avoidable, would you fight her again? One-on-one?"

Bloom opened her mouth to answer but then shut it again and dropped her head, too ashamed to even look at anyone. Sky and Stella instantly moved in to gently console her while everyone else silently exchanged concerned glances. The Rebellion's only chance at success was to fight Dragon Fire with Dragon Fire, so if Bloom wasn't willing to fight . . .

Everyone's dark thoughts were suddenly shattered when Seleena gave an indifferent _sniff_ and slouched back in her chair. "Very well. We'll just adjust the battle strategies accordingly. You're dismissed."

A stunned silence rang through the tent as they all blinked at the Witch in shock. Even Bloom lifted her head slightly to watch Seleena from behind her fringe. Seleena, in turn, seemed to have lost all interest in the fairy opposite her and was shuffling through some papers she had pulled towards her.

"Excuse me?" Sky snapped, outrage building up inside him at the way Seleena had just waved Bloom off like that.

"I said you're excused," Seleena repeated without acknowledging the edge to the Prince's tone. "Go get some food in her. Poor thing's probably quite hungry despite the fact that she's yet to touch that plate there. I doubt your little group will be requiring another shelter but if you have any issues just speak to one of the seniors and sure we'll arrange something. Thank-you for your time, now if you could see yourselves out."

"Are you _kidding me?!"_ Annabelle suddenly exploded. She slammed her hands on the table and shot to her feet so quickly her chair toppled over.

Seleena let loose an exasperated sigh which did nothing to improve Annabelle's temper. "Problem?"

"Yes there's a problem! _You're_ _the friggin' problem!"_ Annabelle screeched so loudly that no one even bothered to entertain the possibility that it wouldn't be overheard outside the tent. "This is the Last Princess of Sparx! The one we've been waiting for! You can't just toss her aside like that!"

"And why can't I?" Seleena challenged coldly. "I am the one leading this Rebellion. You have heard from her own mouth that she is unwilling to fight Icy so why waste time pinning all our hopes on someone who cannot deliver?"

"_Hey!"_ Sky and Stella objected in unison, but none of them could match the wrath that was radiating out of the other blonde. Annabelle's temper had been simmering for far too long and now it was practically erupting out of her.

"You arrogant bitch!" she spat at Seleena. Annabelle may have only been a small, lithe limbed creature but at that moment she had the power and fury of a person three times her size. Her green eyes brightly, her cheeks flushed with emotion and her soft blonde curls started to stir as if a wind had suddenly kicked up. "You bring us out here with no previsions or plans for attack and then when we finally find the one person who can truly help us you cast her aside because you're too much of a _control freak to put even a small amount of trust into someone else?!" _

"Trust her?" Seleena seethed, rising to her feet and leaning forwards like a snake rearing up to strike. "What reason do I have to trust a child like her?"

"_Because she's the Last Princess of Sparx!"_

"A dead and forgotten realm," Seleena countered coldly. "I am not so naive as to cling ghosts of the past and believe that they hold any precedence. I will not risk the lives of my Rebellion on some relic of a forsaken kingdom, regardless of what form it takes!"

Annabelle looked as though she wanted to wrap her fingers around Seleena's throat and squeeze. "How can you be so _pigheaded?!"_

"All right girls, enough," Chucky tried to intervene but he couldn't stop himself from flinching when the witch and the fairy rounded in him.

"_Stay out of this!"_ both girls shouted in unison and no one blamed Chucky when he chose to cower back rather than fight. The two senior girls made an imposing sight as they faced off against one another on opposite sides of the table. One was literally shimmering with livid colour while the other stood tall, cold and monotone.

"Bloom is the only one who can fight Icy!" Annabelle argued.

"I do not believe that," Seleena objected. "There are many people in this Rebellion with magical talent. They may not have the same raw power as the Dragon Fire but they at least have confidence in their abilities. That's a hell of a lot more than this whelp is offering us!"

"Bloom is the Keeper of the Dragon Fire!"

"She's a _freshmen!"_ Seleena said, stressing the last word. "She is an Alfea first year student who began at the bottom of her class. She didn't even have her wings when she arrived in Magix! She grew up on Earth and didn't even know magic existed until less than a year ago. Whatever birthright she had or whatever power she might possess doesn't add up to squat. She is nothing more than a lost little girl far away from home."

Annabelle's anger had started to burn out, leaving behind a hollow sense of desperation but she still stood strong against Seleena, even if there were tears in her eyes. "Ms. Faragonda believed in her."

"Faragonda," Seleena snorted. "Do you think I'd care about the opinion of someone the likes for _her_? A woman who stands by and offers up her students as sacrifice instead fighting herself? That decrepit, spineless hag. She's a fool and a coward."

"She is not!" a voice shouted, only this time it didn't belong to Annabelle. Bloom had slammed her closed fist on the table, her entire body shaking in her seat and tears leaking out of her clenched eyelids to spill down her cheeks.

A heavy silence fell over the tent as Seleena regarded the crying princess for a long time and when she spoke her voice was as cold as ice. "Regardless of what either of us may think, I will not be making her mistake. Now I don't have time to deal with children and their delicate emotions so all of you; get out of my tent."

"But – " Chucky tried but Seleena wouldn't get a word in.

"_Out!"_

* * *

_(1) I'm not sure why but that bit of Demi Moore in that fur coat and her undies in the montage to "A Girl Like You" from the second Charles Angels movie as always struck me as a good 'bad girl' vision. It's strong, it's sexual, it's expensive and I can totally picture Darcy pulling it off. _

_Also there's a little Riven cameo for you all. Hopefully that'll appease you all until he really comes out to play in a chapter or twos time. _

_Man, that stand off between Seleena and Annabelle was hard to write without swear words, and even then I had to let a few slip through. And I'm sure a lot of you are thinking, "What the hell is this Seleena bitch's problem?" but she has her reasons, as do I._

_TBC. _


	13. Chapter 13

_Uni holidays are over. Blagh!_

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

The moment they left Seleena's tent Annabelle stormed off in a manner typical of someone a third her age. Chucky was at her side, cautiously steering her towards a secluded section of the camp where she could vent without being overheard. A sharp look from the silver haired hero warned their entourages not to follow them and no one opposed his silent order. After all, they had all overheard the shouting match that had just occurred between the two senior girls and were left rather shell-shocked by the whole thing.

In a similar state, the Winx Club and their Red Fountain counterparts made their way towards the campfire they had claimed as their own. Once again warning looks from various members of their group kept the lingering crowd at bay but it was hard not to hear other Rebellion members whispering amongst themselves or feel eyes watching them. Ignoring the crowd as much as they could, the Winx Club focused on trying to get some food and water into Bloom. The Last Princess of Sparx had been left pale and trembling in the wake of her first encounter with the telepathic Leader of the Great Witch Rebellion and those closest to her were furious on her behalf.

"Where does Seleena gets the nerve to talk about Bloom like that," Sky growled as he paced the length of one of the log seats set up around the fire. He purposely avoided calling the witch _Miss Seleena_ the way everyone besides the Triumvir did because, after what he had just witnessed, she didn't deserved to be addressed so reverentially.

"She does have a lot to worry about at the moment. Perhaps feels she doesn't have the time for tact," Helia pointed out but the glare the Prince sent his way told him that his logic was not appreciated. "I'm not saying that it's right."

"You're damn right it isn't!" Musa snapped.

"_Witches_. They're all the same," Stella spat, pointedly looking at a group of nearby Cloud Tower students that she knew could hear her. The witches _humph_ed and whispered bitterly amongst themselves but otherwise didn't respond to what they had overheard.

"Stella," Flora lightly chastised from her place sitting next to Bloom.

"What?" Stella asked, an edge to her voice that indicated she was spoiling for a fight. Seleena's words and haughty attitude had left her furious beyond all reason, causing her to want to lash out at her friends in an act of misplaced aggression.

Recognising Stella's rage for what it was Flora chose to instead focus her attention back to Bloom. The Flower Fairy may have been emotionally shattered when she had first arrived at the camp but now that one of her closest friends was in an even worse state, Flora had managed to pull herself together again. Her mental scars were still there, of course, but right now Bloom needed her. "Sweetie, I know you're not hungry but please eat something."

"I feel sick," Bloom whispered in a quivering voice, indicating that another bout of tears probably wasn't far off. So far her friends had managed to get her to get a decent amount of water into her but Bloom was still struggling with food. In her hand she held a bread roll that one of the Cloud Tower witches had made however she had made no attempt to eat any of it yet.

"I know, _I know_," Flora assured her softly. "But you spent four days in an enchanted sleep so you need to eat. You can take your time chewing it. Just try, Bloom. Please?"

Bloom sighed but then she bit off a small piece of the roll and started to chew. Flora's and the rest of her friends gentle prompting, the redhead managed to finish off the roll and pick at a little bit of freshly cooked meat that Timmy retrieved for her and the others.

"Do you guys think Miss Seleena's really got a plan?" Brandon asked the group, looking back over his shoulder in the direction of the tent. "I mean, she talks like she does but then she goes and waves Bloom off like that. Doesn't make much sense to me."

"Since when have witches done anything that makes sense? They're cold, cruel creatures that only really care about themselves," Musa seethed, putting her own lunch aside. She really didn't have much of an appetite at the moment.

"I was hoping Miss Seleena would be different, but there's no logical reason for the way she acted," Tecna said, shifting her own food about her plate with no desire to eat it. Their leaders attitude had left them all disturbed. If they couldn't trust Seleena to lead the Rebellion efficiently, then whom could they trust? Then again, even if they did choose someone else to lead them Seleena wouldn't just step down. The Cloud Tower witches had the huge advantage of numbers so any chance of uprising would be futile. Regardless, they shouldn't be wasting time and energy fighting amongst themselves when the Trix was their real enemy.

"Might as well lump Seleena in with the Trix. Good for nothin' witches," Sky sneered, his anger still bubbling away.

Timmy gave a heavy sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose, an action he did whenever he was stressed or over thinking something. After leaving Seleena's tent he choose to silently worked through his thoughts instead of lashing out like the others and he had come to a realisation. "Maybe . . . Maybe Miss Seleena had a point."

Sky stilled at Timmy's words and then suddenly moved until he was right in front of the other boy. With a frightening snarl on his face the Prince griped the front of his friends uniform with both hands and dragged him to his feet. "_What?"_

"Sky!" Brandon found his voice before Timmy did and a second later the squire and Helia were prying the two teens apart. Brandon quickly moved between his two friends, holding Sky back with both hands pressed against his chest. "I know you're angry for Bloom's sake but for crying out loud, get a grip!"

"Maybe you should hear your friend out before you bite his head off," Helia suggested calmly, standing with a supportive hand on Timmy's shoulder.

Seeing the alarmed look in Timmy's wide eyes Sky suddenly felt a wave of shame build up inside him. Since he was the youngest member of their squad (1), Sky, Brandon and Riven had a tendency to interact with Timmy a little more tenderly than they would with one other so for Sky to grab him like that was something no one was prepared for. "Oh man, I'm sorry Timmy. I totally overreacted."

"It's alright," Timmy tried to reassure him but his eyes were still a bit wide which only made Sky feel guiltier. The Prince dropped his gaze to stare at his shoes in shame.

"What were you saying, Timmy? About Miss Seleena being right?" Brandon asked, trying to get Timmy to finish his thought instead of clamming up.

"I . . . um . . ." Timmy hesitated but when he felt Helia give his shoulder an encouraging squeeze he pulled himself together. "I just think she may have had a point about Bloom not necessarily being the best choice to go up against Icy. It's not that I don't believe in you Bloom. Honest. But for all of us to lump the fate of the entire universe onto you . . . I think that's an unfair expectation we put on you and I'm sorry for that."

Bloom – and many others in their group – blinked at Timmy in surprise. "You're sorry?"

"I am."

"But . . . But I'm the one you let you down," Bloom told him. "I couldn't stop Icy and now we're all in this mess and – "

"But we shouldn't have put you in that situation in the first place," Timmy interrupted. "You're from Earth, Bloom. You didn't know you had magic until you literally stumbled across Stella only a few months ago. You only discovered you had the actual Dragon Fire a week ago. Of course you didn't know how to wield it. And yet we still put you up against a witch who not only has a clear understanding of how her power works but who has been training for this moment for years. Possibly even her whole life. That's not fair on you so I'm sorry."

Bloom was silent for a little while as she processed Timmy's words but when she looked back up at him there was a small smile on her face. "Thanks Timmy."

"You're welcome," Timmy replied earnestly. Sky quickly caught his eye and shot him a look that was part apologetic and part grateful, no doubt for being the first one to make Bloom smile since meeting Seleena. Timmy had been accused in the past (normally by Brandon) of being too modest for his own good so Sky wasn't surprised when his friend subtly waved him off and averted his eyes. However when he noticed Timmy frowning at something Sky quickly followed his gaze and saw a familiar senior approaching them.

"Annabelle," Stella greeted, also noticing the other fairy as well as the two senior classmates that followed her. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm not sure," Annabelle admitted, her expression serious. "Seleena's detected something out in the woods that she wants us to personally inspect."

"You're leaving the camp?" Tecna asked in surprise. As far as they all knew, since the start of the Rebellion none of the Triumvir had gone more than a short distance into the trees surrounding the camp. Something big must have grabbed Seleena's attention if it was pulling her away from her base.

"Seleena and I am," Annabelle clarified. "This mission needs to be about speed and stealth so Chucky has to stay behind. The levi bikes are too loud. Also Seleena doesn't want a group larger than ten people and she's been generous enough to divide it equally. I've got two positions vacant and I want to give them to you guys. Seleena might have given up on the Winx Club but I sure as hell haven't."

"Okay?" Brandon said, not sure whether that last statement was supposed alleviate or depress them.

"So, who's up for a little adventure?" Annabelle asked brightly, her green eyes lingering hopefully on Stella.

"I wish I could come," Stella said, noticing the way the other Solarian was looking at her. "But . . . I think I'm needed here more."

"I understand," Annabelle nodded, taking note of the way Stella looked at Flora and Bloom. Those two fairies were in no condition to be sent out on a recon mission and Stella knew that she needed to be there for them, especially Bloom. Annabelle then moved on to Musa and Tecna. "Well how about you two? You in?"

"You bet we are!" Musa volunteered enthusiastically while Tecna answered with a simple nod.

"Brilliant. Let's go."

Timmy looked a bit startled. "What? Now?"

"Yeah. Seleena wants to move as soon as possible," Annabelle told them.

"Great. Finally we get to do something," Musa said eagerly, moving to join Annabelle and her classmates.

"You girls be careful," Stella ordered. "Don't do anything stupid."

"We'll be fine," Tecna assured them all with a wave. "Bye."

"Um, bye Tec," Timmy replied rather pathetically and then with some quick parting smiles Tecna and Musa were gone.

"Timothy," Brandon grumbled in a tone that reminded Timmy an awful lot of the way his father spoke to him whenever he was misbehaving.

"Eh, yeah?"

"You're kind of missing an opportunity here."

"I am?"

"Uh-huh. Fortunately you've still got time to fix it," Stella told him. Clearly she understood what Brandon was getting at, even if Timmy didn't.

Grabbing Timmy by the shoulders, Brandon started manhandling him off in the direction Tecna, Musa and the senior fairies had just gone. "If you hurry you can catch up to Tecna and give her a proper goodbye."

"W-What?" Timmy stammered, not prepared for this at all. "But . . . I . . ."

"Go!" Stella and Brandon ordered in unison and with one final shove from Brandon Timmy stumbled off after the fairies.

"That was actually pretty sweet of you. Making Timmy go after her like that," Flora said as soon as Timmy was out of sight. "Goodness knows he'd never make that move on his own."

"Yeah, well, he's a good kid," Brandon shrugged. "If all he needs is a good kick in the rear to make him take something that'll make him happy, well, my boot's always available."

* * *

"Hey Tecna! Tec! Wait up!"

"Huh?" Tecna said, stopping and looking back over her shoulder. In the edges of her vision she saw that Musa had paused as well. "Timmy? What is he doing here?"

Although Musa might not have the grade average her roommate had she was a bit better with emotions so she caught on quickly. With a wide grin that Tecna, who was looking in the wrong direction, didn't see Musa gave Tecna a playful shove back towards the young hero that was running to catch up with them. "I'll give you two some privacy and get the others to wait. Just don't take too long, kay?"

"What?" Tecna asked, blinking stupidly but Musa was already gone. Confused Tecna waited for Timmy to reach her. "Timmy, what's going on?"

"Oh," Timmy faltered, his cheeks suddenly flushing pink. The Red Fountain student bashfully rubbed the back of his neck as he struggled to find the words he wanted. "I-I-I just . . . I just wanted to say . . . er . . . be careful out there. Okay?"

"Of course I will," Tecna said, feeling a tad insulted at Timmy's lack of faith in her. "I'm perfectly capable of holding my own in battle."

"I know you are. I wasn't trying to suggest otherwise," Timmy assured her, understanding the reason behind her sharp tone. "I just," here he cautiously reached out and took her hand in his, "didn't want you to go without knowing that I care about you so it's important that you come back."

At his words Tecna's eyes widened and then softened after she had realised exactly what it was he was trying to say to her. Giving his hand a gentle squeeze, Tecna smiled at him. "I'll come back. I promise."

"Thanks," Timmy smiled back, impulsively leaning forward and plant a chaste kiss on the corner of her mouth. It was in a spot that wasn't quite an all out kiss on the lips but it wasn't high enough to be considered platonic either (2). "I'll see you when you get back then."

"O-O-Okay."

"Tecna? Are you alright?"

"Oh yeah. Never better," Tecna replied dreamily. Moving like she was a little punch-drunk, Tecna let go of Timmy's hand and stumbled off in the direction where she knew Musa, Annabelle and the others were waiting. "See you soon."

Timmy couldn't keep a wide grin from spreading across his face as he watched her walk away.

* * *

"Well don't you look happy?" Musa smirked when Tecna finally caught up.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tecna flushed brightly which only caused Musa to grin more. With a self-conscious tug of her clothes, Tecna turned her attention to the group that had gathered at the edge of the camp. "Are all of us here?"

"We're just waiting on Miss Seleena. She's giving Chucky and Calypso some last minute orders since they're going to be the one in charge until we get back," Musa answered, studying the group as well. Besides the two of them there was Annabelle and two other seniors and then standing a few feet away were the four witches Seleena had selected. Musa and Tecna had seen them before and it took them a second to remember where; they were four of the five witches that had brought in the Silver Mist deer. They all had a lean, tough look about them, which explained why Seleena picked them to be trackers both before and now; they were the perfect combination of stealth and strength.

"Do we even know what we're looking for?" Tecna asked.

Annabelle shook her head. "Miss Seleena's keeping pretty tight lipped about it all."

"Well that's comforting," Musa muttered sarcastically and then panicked slightly when Seleena choose that exact moment to make her appearence.

"Are we ready to go?" Seleena asked curtly, striding into the group with a strong, determined step.

"Just waiting on you," Annabelle answered tensely. Clearly neither girl had forgotten their fight but was forced to put it aside for now to deal with this mission.

"Good," Seleena said, surveying her troops. "You fairies are better off changing into your winx forms here. Once we step outside of the cloaking spell we put over the camp there's a possibility that Darcy might be able to pick up on any magic used. So remember, to try and keep casting any spells to a minimum."

"Got it," Annabelle nodded before addressing the fairies under her command. "Let's go girls."

In a flash of multicoloured light all five fairies transformed. When the light died away, Tecna and Musa were standing in their winx forms as were the two other fairies Annabelle had chosen to accompany them, only those fairies had Charmix's pinned to their chests and wrapped around their waists. Annabelle's transformation, however, was something truly magnificent.

Of all the students currently attending Alfea Annabelle was the only fairy to have achieved her Enchantix, which was why she was appointed as the fairies commander. Her huge wings were a strange combination of powerful and delicate. Crystal beads that caught and refracted the light were wrapped around her feet, wrists and neck. There were also a few woven into her curled hair, making it look like she was covered in beads of raindrops. Her dress was short, airy and at first glance appeared to be white, but with every movement she made it shimmered with every colour of the rainbow. All in all, she was nothing less than stunning.

Seleena spent a second looking over each fairy before nodding in approval. "Let's go."

And with that the group left the safety of the camp and vanished into the mist.

* * *

_(1) I have a feeling this might not necessarily be correct but it's how I've always pictured it. There are bio's online that have all the Winx characters birthdays and I actually think they list Riven as being the youngest of the specalists but in my head canon it goes (from oldest to youngest) Nabu, Helia, Sky, Brandon, Riven and then_ _Timmy._

_(2) I kept tossing up whether Timmy should just kiss the corner of her lips or kiss her full on. Obviously I decided on the half-kiss because it felt more real to the character. Let's face it, there's no way Timmy would have the nerve to full on kiss her like that. No way. _

_After I had Icy rattle off those statistics in the last chapter I did have someone ask about the numbers that made up the Great Witch Rebellion. It's basically; 14 fairies + 12 heroes + 58 witches = 84 students all up._

_Now, one look at any crowd scene depicting an entire school assembly you'll see that those numbers don't exactly match all the people draw but I was working off the idea that each grade had about 17 students each so that's 68 students per school. Really there are only like 12 students in the Winx Club's classes which would only make 48 students per school but as if they'd open a private school that can only facilitate that many students. There's no way they could justify having 7 staff members on their books (9 if you include Avalon and Knut). _

_Clearly I've over thought this cartoon. TBC_


	14. Chapter 14

_Fun fact; this chapter was actually part of the pervious one but it became too long so I divided it into two. However, since I had already given it a last minute polish I decided to double-up my post. So if you've accidently skipped Chapter Thirteen where they deal with what happened when Bloom met Seleena for the first time, go back then read this one._

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen **

"I wanna say something to her."

"Musa," Tecna pleaded. "That won't help."

"She had no right to talk to Bloom the way that she did."

It had been over and hour since Seleena and Annabelle's recon group had left the Rebellion camp and so far they hadn't found whatever it was that had caught Seleena's attention. Visibility was low due to the mist, keeping them all on edge despite Seleena's assurance that the Army of Decay hadn't reached this far just yet. The group moved silently and swiftly through the trees, pausing briefly and only when Seleena instructed. Eventually they reached a place where Seleena stopped and instructed some of the girls out to explore the surrounding area. No one knew exactly what it was they were looking for but Seleena seemed to think that they would find it here. The black and white witch had remind behind, scanning the area with her Minds Eye and at Annabelle's request Tecna and Musa stayed behind as well. The rainbow fairy hinted that it was because they were younger than the others girls, but the two freshmen's knew it was because Annabelle still didn't have much faith in whatever it was Seleena was up to.

They had been left behind to monitor their self-proclaimed leader. However after fifteen minutes of silently sitting in the mist, Musa's thoughts had drifted back what had happened the last time she had been in Saleena's company.

"I don't approve either but I'm sure she has her reasons," Tecna said, glancing over at the witch in question. She was standing a small distance away trying to decipher some runes Calypso had given her. Even since the others had left, Seleena had acted as if she was completely alone and hadn't so much as glanced at the two fairies. "Just let it go, Musa."

"Nah-uh," Musa shook her head firmly. "She crossed a line when she started trash talking Ms. F. I'm not just going to let that slide."

"You know, your whispering isn't as subtle as you might think," Seleena suddenly spoke up with a condescendingly edge to her voice. Giving up on the runes for now, the witch looked over at the fairies whom flushed in either anger and shame at being caught out.

"I wasn't exactly trying to be subtle," Musa practically bristled. Now that she had Seleena's attention she was going to let the witch know exactly what she thought of her. "You know, you've got some nerve."

Seleena arched one of her eyebrows. "Oh? How so?"

"Don't play dumb," Musa hissed. "You had no right speaking to Bloom the way you did. She is the Last Princess of Sparx and Keeper of the Dragon Fire. She deserves a little respect."

"Really?" Seleena asked, a small, amused smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "And what, pray tell, has she done to warrant such respect?"

Musa gaped open mouthed at her for a few seconds before she found her voice, and her temper. "What has she done? She's been opposing the Trix and foiling their plans ever since the back to school mixer Alfea had with Red Fountain! She travelled to Sparx even when she thought she didn't have any magic to try and find a way to defeat the Trix! She helped bust you worthless witches out of the Cloud Tower dungeons! And she went off to fight Icy one-on-one when no one else would! That's what she's done!"

"The only reason she got to fight Icy at the Fall of Alfea was because Ms. Faragonda wouldn't give anyone else the chance to. And she didn't do anything to help us witches get out of those dungeons. We managed that on our own," Seleena informed them.

"That still doesn't give you the right to talk to her the way you did. You treated her like dirt and even if she wasn't a princess or the Keeper of the Dragon Fire she's still a human being! Show some courtesy! Or are you so heartless that you've forgotten how to do that?"

Seleena studied the musical fairy for a long moment before giving her response. "You might think your arguments have merit but the reality is your emotions have blinded you from seeing reason. If you really care about your friend then maybe you should stop saddling her with unrealistic expectations."

"So I should just conform to your method of dismissing the value of everyone around you?" Musa growled. "You're a pretentious, narcissistic bitch who acts like you know what you're doing but really you don't have a damn clue, now do you?"

A mysterious smile crossed Seleena's face. "Oh, I have more of a clue than you could possibly imagine. But since you were so honest with your thoughts towards me I feel I should return the favour, and the truth is that I couldn't care less about the opinions of someone as damaged and fragile as you. You put up such a strong façade and yet all it takes is one comment from a boy for you to shatter like glass (1). In fact it's quite amusing just how deluded you are about your own weakness."

"That's not true," Musa disagreed, her body trembling in rage but her eyes welling with tears. "I am not weak!"

"Well I guess when the time comes you'll have to prove me wrong," Seleena shrugged off with an indifference that indicated she never expected it to happen. "Now why don't head out a little ways and try to pick something up with your sonar hearing."

Musa looked like she wanted to oppose her just to be difficult. Ultimately the musical fairy's need for privacy so she could pull her emotions back under control won out and she stormed off without another word. Tecna knew Musa well enough to know not to follow her just yet and instead focused her attention on the witch she now had a private audience with.

"Yes?" Seleena prompted casually.

"You're doing that on purpose," Tecna said analytically. "Putting us fairies down, I mean. Challenging our value. I just can't seem to work our your motive."

"Maybe I'm just a bitch like they all say."

"No. I don't believe it's that simple. You're far too aware of yourself and the current situation to result to something so petty. So what exactly is your plan, Miss Seleena?"

Seleena smiled again, only this time it looked pleased instead of mysterious. "I must admit that I like you the most out of your little group of friends, Tecna. Out of all of them you are the only one that showed true intelligence."

Tenca rolled her eyes. "Flattery will not distract me from getting an answer."

Seleena laughed outright before controlling herself. "Very well. Why am I verbally attacking your friends? Because it needs to be done in order to achieve the result I want."

"And what is that?"

_~Them fighting the Trix and the Army of Decay with all the fury their fragile little bodies can muster~_ Seleena projected. Tecna was confused by Seleena's use of her powers until she remembered that Musa was still nearby and could easily overhear this conversation if she directed her sonar hearing their way.

"But surely there are better ways to go about doing that. Haven't you ever heard the saying that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?" Tecna chose to speak out loud. She really didn't care that Seleena had projected directly into her mind but she wasn't about to return the action. Creating a channel between two minds like that might open more doors than Tecna wanted and she wasn't going to risk it with a skilled telepath.

"Unfortunately I don't have time to sugar coat things," Seleena replied with a cold smile.

"I know you're under a lot of pressure – we all are – but bullying people like Bloom and Musa isn't going to get the results you want. Before Bloom went on that mission to Cloud Tower, Ms. Faragonda – "

"Oh god, here we go," Seleena grumbled with a dismissive eye roll.

It took a supreme effort from Tecna to keep her anger under control. "I'm just trying to help."

"Yes I know you are but guess what; I'm not Faragonda," Seleena said, speaking slowly to get her point across. "But I'll tell you what I am; I'm a telepath. I might not be able to throw fireball, or wield a sword or summon an army of rot monsters but I can read a persons mind like a roadmap. I know exactly what makes them tick and what buttons I need to push to get the reaction I want. That's what I do. And do you know what your friends need? What this Rebellion needs? They need fire."

"Fire?"

_~Yes. We're past the stage of passive inspirations that a grandmother-like figure such as Faragonda can trigger with a soft smile and an encouraging pat on the back. We are alone in this Realm and we need to fight for survival like the desperate creatures we are.~_

As much as Tecna wanted to believe that the witch they had all put their trust in really did have a reason behind everything she did, the digital fairy still wanted more proof. "So you kick us while we're down? Is that your plan?"

_~Human beings as a species desire conflict (2). We like nothing more than to prove someone else wrong. If I say your little Winx Club is of no use anymore, than Annabelle's going to out of her way to ensure you're included in every major movement we make. Isn't that the reason why you're here right now?~_

Tecna didn't bother to answer that. They both knew it was true.

_~And then there's your dear friend Musa. That girl is completely convinced that my judgment cannot be trusted, which has put her in exactly the right state for mind that will drive to disobey a direct order. You wait, it'll happen soon.~_

"And Bloom?"

"Well," Seleena shrugged. "We'll just have to see how that one pans out."

Tecna frowned. "You're playing a dangerous game, Miss Seleena. One that we might not be able to make it out of alive."

An odd look flashed across Seleena's face but she schooled it back into an impassive mask before Tecna could even begin to identify it. "I know, but what choice do we have?"

"Miss Seleena," a voice hissed softly and a beat later one of the witches Seleena had brought with her materialized out of the mist. "We've found it."

"Excellent. Lead the way."

* * *

Musa had no interest in being anywhere near that supercilious telepath but when she overheard someone say that they had found whatever it was they were searching for, curiosity got the better of her. Fortunately by the time she had caught up with Tecna and Seleena, Annabelle, the two others fairies and another witch had also joined them, no doubt silently summoned telepathically.

"Do you know what's going on?" Musa whispered as she fell in alongside Tecna.

"No," Tenca answered, swerving around a tree truck. The mist and the close foliage made it difficult to keep up with the levitating witches but Alfea fairies were talented fliers so they all managed to keep up until they found themselves stopping at the top of a ridge. On a clear day they probably could have seen the City of Magix somewhere in the far distance but right now all they could see were tall shadows of trees under an blanket of mist and drizzling rain. And above all that were the dark storm clouds that prevented outside help from reaching them.

All in all, it was a rather miserable view.

"Where is he?" Seleena asked the last two witches of the group. They had been waiting for the eight other girls to arrive at the ridge while carefully remaining hidden beneath the trees.

"He's airborne," one of them answered pointing up into the mist. Even though they all strained their eyes all they could make out was a dark shadow flying above the trees. It wasn't until a bellowing roar filled the air that they realised what it was exactly.

"A dragon?" Annabelle gasped.

"And a rider," Seleena added, her eyes and mind scanning the situation. "Darcy's sent out a scout."

"What do we do with it?" one of the witches asked.

"None of you do _anything_," Seleena ordered firmly. "That rider's closely connected to Darcy. Any magic you throw at him could compromise us all."

"Is he the only one?" asked one of Annabelle's classmates.

"He's the only one to have ventured out this far. Darcy's very confident with the control she has over him. Although really that not really that impressive given that she's spent the better half of this school year manipulating his mind."

Musa inhaled sharply and her hands quickly covered her mouth to stop her accidentally making any noise, but not before a name passed over her lips. "Riven."

"Is he a threat to the camp?" Annabelle questioned.

Seleena didn't hesitate with her answer. "Of course he is."

"So what do we do?"

"We get rid of him," Seleena said simply. The witch raised her right hand and held it palm out over the left hand side of her body. Above them, the dragon and its rider had moved close enough for them to just make out the red markings on the dragons wings. Without a word Seleena then move her hand to the right horizontally, cutting the air in front of her.

The result of her spell was instantaneous. It was as if the dragon had flown into an invisible wall, causing the reptile to practically summersault in the air. As its long tail flipped over the head of the dazed beast, it fell into a nosedive and threw its rider from its saddle. The dragon managed to catch itself before it hit the trees and flew off listlessly into the wild, luckily in a direction away from the camp.

The rider, however, continued to plummet towards the ground.

"Riven!" Musa panicked, gathering her magic before she was even conscious of what she was doing.

"Don't!" Seleena tired to stop her but it was already too late.

_"Support Act!" _

With a bright burst, a sphere of light a shade somewhere between red and purple shot out from Musa's hands. Closely resembling a disco-ball, the sphere expanded enough to completely encase the hero and slow his fall, protecting him from harm when he impacted with the ground. Without so much as a glance at the other girls, Musa took off into the air, flying as fast as her wings could carry her.

"Musa!" Tecna's shout told Musa that the others were following her but the musical fairy didn't waste time looking back as she sped through the trees. All her focus was on the hero she could see lying motionless on the forest floor.

"Riven!" Musa cried, dropping down alongside him. He was unconscious but unharmed. However that didn't mean that he didn't look terrible.

His skin was a sickly pale colouring and he had dark bruising under both his eyes, as if it had been sometime since he had gotten any decent rest. His hair had a grubby, unwashed look about it and his cheeks were sunken, hinting at a lack of nourishment. He was wearing his Red Fountain uniform just like the last time she had seen him, but her eyes quickly took note of the small change Darcy had made; instead of the usual red stone clasping his cape in place, there was a stone in Darcy's signature purple.

Gently cradling Riven's face in her hands, Musa leaned over the unconscious hero. "Riven? Riven can you hear me?"

"I wouldn't bet on it," a cold voice told her. Musa looked up to see that the other members of the scouting party had joined her and Seleena was glaring at her with an unimpressed expression on her face. "Not after the spell I just hit him with."

"Well can't you do anything?"

Seleena gave her another hard look before turning to address one of her witches. "We'll need data."

Going off the clothes the witch had been wearing, Musa had assumed the witch was from Tecna's home realm of Zenith and her suspicions were confirmed when the witch pulled out an small electronic device. About the size and shape of a mobile phone, the witch activate a light on it that she shone over Riven from head to toe, like she was taking a digital scan of him. Once that was done the witch hit a few buttons on her device before reporting. "Heart rate: elevated but within normal range. Repertory rate; slow and shallow. Blood pressure: hypotensive. Body temperature: slightly lower than average. Neurological readings are also slightly lower than normal, although not enough to be any cause for concern. There is evidence of dehydration, malnutrition and sleep deprivation. All in all, I'd say if we left him out here in this state he'd go into shock and die in less than three hours."

Seleena hmmmed in a way that suggested she was considering leaving him anyway. Musa instantly saw red.

"He's coming back with us!" she told them all with a tone that left no room for argument, staring down Seleena when the witch locked her dark eyes onto her.

"It's not your place to decide that," Seleena informed her, her face an expressionless mask.

"The hell it is! He's _my_ friend and I'm not going to let you leave him behind to die!"

"What harm is it going to do?" Annabelle asked, trying to be the calm diplomatic member of the group. "We've taken in heroes before. We can always use the extra man power."

"This isn't just any hero; this is Darcy's right hand man," Seleena reminded them all. "Do you think she won't notice when he fails to return to her from his scouting mission? Also she has his mind completely mapped out, increasing the chances of her barging past any mental shields I might create. He'll be a security risk for the camp."

"So what? We just leave him out here?" Tecna questioned. "You were just told he'd died if we did that."

"We could always send him back," one of the other witches proposed.

"Yeah, I'm sure Darcy could find a warm bed for him," another added with a suggestive smirk. Musa practically bristled.

"_No!_" the musical fairy growled. "He's coming with us. I don't care how much of a risk you think he is. I am not leaving him behind."

Seleena folded her arms across her chest. "Are you really willing to risk the lives of everyone back at camp for the sake of your crush?"

A blush worked its way into Musa's cheeks but she refused to look away from Seleena's stare. "Yes. I am."

The telepath studied the determined fairy for a long moment before sighing. "Your behaviour should really be viewed as insubordination but even if I had the means to court marshal you over it I wouldn't have the time. Fine, we'll take him back with us. I'll work on keeping Darcy out of his head but his general care will be your responsibility, fairy. You got that?"

"That's fine by me," Musa hissed back. Seleena gave her one last disapproving look before turning around to bark orders at her fellow witches.

However as she turned she made sure that Tecna saw the smug smile that briefly passed over her lips.

* * *

_(1) Such as in Season 1 Episode 8 "Spelled"_

_(2) I have a feeling I may have mentioned this elsewhere but in high school "As a species, Human Beings are fascinated by conflict" was one of our English units and it's so true. There was a moment in BBC's Sherlock (can't wait for season 3! Eep!) where Sherlock Holmes gets the truth out of a woman by saying things he suspects are completely wrong because "People love to contradict you". It's all rather fascinating. _

___Oh, that Seleena is the Queen of reverse psychology, is she not? And she's only just getting started with her mind games. And if that wasn't a good enough teaser for you, how about this one: next chapter Riven's going to be conscious AND orientated . . . sorta._

_TBC._


	15. Chapter 15

_Sorry this Chapter took so long to get out. I've got an assignment due in a week for a class I friggin' hate so it's very mentally draining. Also Sky and Seleena weren't co-operating in an upcoming scene (typical teenagers) so it took me a while to get it right. _

_However I've got some Riven-suffering ahead so hopefully that'll make it up to you guys._

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen **

Despite the fact that Stella hadn't really done anything beyond sitting around a campfire since Musa and Tecna's departure, she still felt utterly exhausted. Between caring for Bloom and Flora, worrying about Musa and Tecna and trying to maintain a cheery persona for the sake of those around her, Stella was quickly stretching herself to her limits. And it didn't go unnoticed.

"Stella, babe, you need to take a break," Brandon told her, rubbing her shoulders comfortingly.

"What? No, I'm fine," Stella tried to brush off. "I need to get Bloom to eat some more so – "

"She's already managed to keep plenty of food down," Brandon reminded her patiently. "Both her and Flora managed to finish off what was on those plates you gave them. They're okay for the moment, but you are running yourself ragged. Just take it easy for a little bit."

"Take it easy? How can I take it easy? Two of my closest friends are sitting over there emotionally damaged and the other two are out facing god-knows-what at the moment. They could come back in a worse state than Bloom and Flora for all I know."

Brandon didn't bother trying to deny that. Instead he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a secure embrace. "Hey, hey, hey, I know that, but you've got understand that I'm here worrying about all the same things you are. Plus I'm worried about you. Stella, you don't have to do this alone. You've got Helia watching out for Flora and Sky won't let Bloom so much as scratch her nose without jumping in to help. As for Musa and Tecna, well, there's not much we can do to help them but I'm sure Timmy's doing his share of worrying about that. So please, don't think that you're in this all on your own."

Stella's body remained tense for a few seconds and then all at once she practically melted against Brandon. Burying her face in his chest, Stella deeply inhaled the squire's scent. Even though it had been a long time since any of them had had the luxury of a shower, she was still able to pick up that uniquely 'Brandon' smell that she had gotten acquainted with over the last year and instantly felt the calming affects that she associated with it. "Oh Brandon, it's just I . . . This whole thing . . . It's just so . . ."

"I know," Brandon told her, tightening his arms just that little bit more. He understood all her fears, frustrations and the desperate, _desperate_ hope she had because he was feeling them as well. And when faced with such a bleak outlook it was hard to hang onto positive thoughts but that wasn't going to stop the squire from trying. After pressing a kiss to her temple, Brandon moved his lips so he could whisper in her ear, "When this is all over, I'm gonna take you out on a date."

He felt more than saw Stella smile at such a comment. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Isn't it traditional for a guy a girl to ask first? Not just state that it's going to happen?"

"I did ask you."

"When?"

"Back in the tunnels when we were sneaking into Cloud Tower."

"So you're taking me to the movies?"

"The movies, _ha_. How ordinary. How dull. How utterly pedestrian, my dear."

"You're the one that suggested it," Stella giggled at Brandon's over-the-top dismissal. Without releasing his arms from around her, Brandon pulled back enough so that he was able to gaze into her honey coloured eyes.

"I take my little brother to the movies but you, my sweet, you deserve to be _woo_ed," he told her with a playful glint in his eyes. "Dinners at the finest restaurants Magix has on offer, provided they're within my price range, of course. Dancing at clubs until the early hours of the morning or at least until they realise we're underage and kick us out. And paying exorbitant tourist prices for one of those unicorn carriage rides they have going in Riverside Park (1)."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Brandon grinned widely. "And _then_ we'll go to the movies. Hero Mission 3 (2) is being released in cinemas in just a few weeks!"

Stella couldn't stop herself from throwing her head back and laughing loudly at the eager expression on Brandon's face. He was so different from the boys she had dated in the past but none of them had ever made her laugh the way Brandon did. "Oh, that sounds like a date I wanna go on."

"Good. Saves me from hounding you until you agree."

"I would have caved eventually," Stella told him with a teasing note to her voice. "Can't have you losing interest in me, now can I?"

"Now that's never gonna happen, babe," Brandon replied, leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers. Stella quickly returned the kiss, threading her fingers through his short, brown hair but just as she was about to pull him in deeper Brandon broke away and stilled like a hunting dog that had picked up a scent.

"What is it?" Stella panted, a little thrown by the sudden change. The playful, flirty Brandon she had just been joking with was gone and had been replaced by the focused and solemn hero she knew he was training to be.

"They're back," was all Brandon said, letting her go and hurried off after Timmy. Stella quickly exchanged a look with Helia who nodded at her silent request to stay with Flora and Bloom before she rushed to catch up to the two boys.

* * *

Chucky looked up when the three teens dashed over to where he and the returned recon group were standing but then quickly returned his attention back to the unconscious young man the witches were levitated a few inches off the ground. "Okay, so why haven't you woken him up yet?"

"Security reasons," Seleena answered as if it was obvious. "If Darcy manages to compromise his mind again I don't want to give her any visual clues that might give away our location."

"If she manages to compromise his mind then surely Darcy wouldn't need something like a visual clues to find us," Annabelle pointed out. "She could use mental GPS positioning or whatever. She_ is_ a telepath."

"As am I," Seleena said slowly, her tone ice cold. "I'm able to scramble Riven's psychic pulse enough to prevent her from finding us that way but even an amateur telepath can still pluck images from another mind, regardless of whether someone's running interference or not."

"Is he alright?" Brandon asked, alarmed at how wrecked his friend looked.

"To an extent," Seleena shrugged off in a way that wasn't at all reassuring. It was made worse when the levitation spell was suddenly cancelled, sending Riven crashing to the ground with a _thud_. "However, when he wakes up . . ." she trailed off before giving Musa a smug smile. "Well, that's your problem, now isn't it?"

"I'm sure I'll manage," Musa snarled back.

"If you say so," Seleena practically purred. She held up her hand, her fingers poised in a position to snap them. "Good luck."

With a snap of her fingers, Riven regained consciousness.

* * *

Trapped within the thick fog that filled his mind, Riven had lost all sense of time.

The tethers between mind and reality lengthened, leaving him floating far above his own consciousness. Time stretched and bent, wrapping layer after layer of fog so thick that nothing could penetrate it. Everything – the fear, the pain, the whole world – became distant. Less intense, less real. He existed only in the thumping of his own heartbeat and the seductive voice that whispered in the darkness. It bled through his soul and encased him in absolute solitude.

But then there was a snap that caused the fog scattered . . .

. . . and the whole world came rushing back in.

Excruciating agony bore through him and clawed its way up his throat. Screaming filled his ears and it would take him a long time to realise that the sound came from him. His spine arched, his abs convulsed and his limbs thrashed as Darcy's presence was violently forced from his mind and held at bay by Seleena's relentless walls.

Chain-linked memories of events flashed through his mind at painfully fast rate, stealing his voice away. Images shifted in and out of focus, some blindingly clear while others seemed hidden behind frosted glass. He remembered rain starting to fall and then his mind shutting down on itself like a steel cage. He saw himself walking through the streets of Magix, only instead of the hassle and bustle of the city it was a wasteland filled with rot monsters and mummified civilians. He could recall the touch of silk sheets and minx fur. The taste of cognac tainted lips. Of long nails digging into his skin. Things he didn't want to remember.

And then suddenly there were hands on him. Horrible, horrible hands. In a panic he opened his eyes and the sharp light burned into the back of his skull. Scrunching his eyes shut, Riven curled his body in tight and desperately tried to ignore the waves of nausea churning within him. Writhing and whimpering pathetically, he tried to pull away from whoever it was that was touching him but then – over the roar of white noise – he heard a voice. A soft, gentle voice that washed over him like a balm.

"Riven. Riven, it's going to be alright."

"M-M-Musa?" he croaked, his throat raw from screaming. He felt soft hands caress his face that were unlike the hands that plagued his memories. These hands had fingers with subtle calluses on them from plucking at guitar strings and a noticeable lack the dagger-like nails.

"Yes. _Sssh_. It's all right. Everything's going to be all right."

Tentatively, Riven opened his eyes again and had to blink several times before they adjusted to the light. He discovered he was laying on the ground somewhere the Enchanted Forest and leaning over him, with a deeply concerned expression on her pretty face, was Musa. As his eyes focused, he could also see Brandon, Timmy and Stella lingering close behind her as well as several other people that he didn't recognise. Under normal circumstances he'd probably be mortified that so many people saw him fall apart like that but right now he just didn't have the energy.

He was finally free from Darcy's fog but reality was going to be a harsh price to pay.

* * *

Brandon and Timmy had to practically carry Riven back to their campfire where he then sunk weak and sick against the ground. Any elation the Winx Club and their hero counterparts may have had at the arrival of their last missing friend was quickly ruined when they all saw how damaged and unresponsive Riven was. He didn't even have the strength to balance on one of the log seat surrounding the fire. Instead he sat on the ground, trembling with exhaustion and barely conscious to what was happening around him.

"You should really eat something," Musa suggested as she gently wiped the sweat from Riven's ashen face. That short walk had really taken it out of him.

"No," Riven objected weakly and then his stomach muscles started to convulse. Since there was nothing to vomit up all he could do was retch painfully, which the others all found distressing to watch.

"There's got to be something we can do," Sky said through gritted teeth. It was bad enough to see Flora and Bloom so damaged by the Trix's actions, but to see Riven, who was normally so stubborn and proud, reduced to such a pathetic state seriously rattled the Prince.

However, before anyone could reply, a witch suddenly sat herself down on the log between Helia and Tecna, then leant forward to watch Riven's suffering as if it was a spectator sport. The group of friends were so startled by her arrival that for a beat all they could do was stare at her in bewilderment.

"Um, can we help you?" Stella eventually asked, an unmistakable edge in her voice that the witch somehow failed to pick up on it.

"Nope, I'm good," the witch said with a low, husky voice that settled uncomfortably low in the bellies of all the males that heard it. There was no denying that she was an interesting looking witch. Her long, wavy hair was the colour of cotton candy and reached all the way to her waist. It also could have looked incredibly feminine if she hadn't chose to closely shave the left side of her scalp, as if she had intended to give herself a crew-cut and then changed her mind halfway through. She was from the Harmonic Nebular if they were to judge by her clothes, which were an odd clash of her cultures traditional dress and modern day street apparel. Her outfit was uncoordinated to the point where her shoes weren't even a matching set and there was a hoop through her left eyebrow, something that would usually be considered a more masculine piercing. Although, as bizarre as she looked, she didn't appear to be the slightest bit self-conscious.

Stella, on the other hand, seemed personally offended by the witch's strange fashion sense and she wasn't shy about showing her contempt. "Well in case you hadn't noticed this campfire is spoken for so just move on."

"Well in case you've hadn't noticed this is a _witch_ rebellion so I can go wherever I want," the witch told her smugly, her tapping foot the only sign of irritation.

_Tap tap . . .Tap tap . . . Tap tap . . ._

"It's a witch rebellion against witches. That's nothing to brag about," Stella shot back. "Now be a peach and bugger off."

The witch gave a deep, throaty chuckle that caused the boys to shift in their seats. "As delightful as all this is I'm not exactly here by choice."

Helia caught on faster than the others. "Miss Seleena ordered you here."

"Got it in one, Paradox," the witch winked. "The name's Discymphia (3)."

"Charmed, I'm sure," Stella hissed sarcastically.

"Miss Seleena sent you here to spy on us?" Bloom asked in a quivering voice. Just the thought of the telepath left her feeling unsettled.

"Not you," Discymphia said before pointing at the hero sitting opposite her. "Him."

"Riven?" Musa gasped. The hero in question didn't respond but managed to hold the witch's gaze with more focus than any of them had witnessed yet. "Why?"

"Even with Miss Seleena's best efforts there's no guarantee that Darcy wouldn't be able to compromise his mind again," Discymphia explained, before smiling pleasantly at Riven. "My job is to sit here and at the first sign of trouble I hit you with a blast so powerful you'll taste sound."

"Cut the guy some slack, would ya?" Brandon snapped. "He's not a traitor, alright?"

"Not consciously perhaps but we're still not gonna risk it."

"Why you – "

"Let it go," Riven's weak voice interrupted, his head bobbing as he struggled to keep eye contact with the witch.

Discymphia grinned. "At least one of you gets it. I can't promise much, hero, but I swear that when I hit you I'll make sure it's worth it."

Riven gave her a humourless smile. "Thanks."

"Anytime," Discymphia saluted and then fell completely silent, except for the tapping of her foot.

_Tap tap . . .Tap tap . . . Tap tap . ._ .

* * *

Even though Sky was reluctant to leave Bloom's side, there were some things in life that just couldn't be ignored. As he slowly walked through the camp on his way back from the latrines, the Prince ran a tired hand down his face. Night had fallen quickly, once again leaving the camp in a consuming darkness that even all of the campfires couldn't dispel. It made the ideal breeding conditions for even darker thoughts.

Ever since he had found Bloom and brought her to the Rebellion, Sky had been overwhelmed with tension, paranoia and anger. The conflicting emotions had robbed him of his appetite, frayed his nerves and had shortened his temper. And he put the blame solely on one person; Seleena.

Timmy and Helia both had faith in Seleena's leadership, though for reasons the Prince still couldn't understand. Sky also suspected that Flora would follow whatever opinion Helia had and that something had happened on the recon mission to caused Tecna to rally behind the witch. Brandon had cautiously remained neutral while Bloom and Riven were in no state to question anything Seleena did. That left Musa and Stella, both of whom Sky knew shared his objections to the Leader of the Great Witch Rebellion.

That Witch had tested his patience for the very first moment he met her. Her arrogance. Her indifference. The way she viewed this whole situation like a game of chess where sacrifices were a necessity. She knew there were people dying in the City of Magix and still she did nothing. She pretended that she had a plan – that she held all the answers – and yet she hadn't prevented all this from happening in the first place. Some telepath.

Never in his life had Sky felt the desire to hit a woman, but that witch was tempting him just as much as Icy, Darcy and Stormy were.

With a deep sigh, Sky shook his head to dislodge frustrating thoughts of the Witch. In the distance he caught sight of the campfire his friends were situated around, but then on the edge of his vision he noticed a solitary person hidden in the shadows a short distance away. The person's gaze was fixed on Sky's destination and even in the dark Sky was able to identify them. His temper flaring, Sky changed course and stormed over to confront the person who didn't even look at him as he approached.

"Did you really have to sic a watchdog on him?" Sky asked sharply. He knew his tone was inappropriate but he didn't care. He had stomached too much bullshit to bother schooling his attitude around his superiors.

Seleena was as unaffected as always. In fact, her gaze didn't move from the campfire she was covertly watching. "I have my reasons for appointing Discymphia to such a task."

"Such as?"

The monogamistic witch finally acknowledged him a bemused and patronising look. "Do you honestly expect me to share?"

His rage bubbling, Sky didn't bother replying. Anyway, they both knew the answer. Inhaling deeply through his nose, Sky focused on addressing the main issue he had with Seleena. After all, he didn't know if he'd ever get the chance to confront the witch on her own like this again. "I'm not going to let you sacrifice Bloom, even if it means ending this war."

Seleena arched one of her dark eyebrows. "Oh? And what makes you think that's my intention?"

"I've heard all about Calypso's predictions about the Paradox, the Link and the Lamb. I'm not an idiot. It's clear that the Lamb represents a sacrifice and the fact that it's followed by fire must mean that it's referring to Bloom."

"Well, you've got it all figured out then, now don't you?"

"Stop mocking me!" Sky growled. "It's obvious what you're doing; belittling Bloom until she believes that the only way she can prove her value is to defeat the Trix, no matter what the cost. Even if it's her life. That's why you're hiding here in the shadows, isn't? Because you feel guilty."

"Is that what you think?"

"You're the telepath. You tell me."

Saleena gave him a know-it-all smile that Sky found to be utterly infuriating. "I know that you think that I don't actually have plan for what to do next. An endgame, you might call it."

"You're right, I don't," Sky didn't deny. "And why should I trust you? You pretend that your powers give you an advantage and yet they weren't enough to stop this all from happening in the first place. What happened? Did you just fail to pick up on the fact that three of your classmates where psychopaths hell bent on enslaving the entire universe? Huh? Because you only lived them for four freakin' years! How did that slip past your Minds Eye? Huh?"

"You really have no idea what it's like to have a power like mine," Seleena responded with a cold smile. Through the shadows Sky noticed a pinprick of light start to appear in her eyes. It had an oddly silver colouring to it and was like a bright spark on dark water. "What it's like to reach into someone else's mind and attack them in a way that is neither defensible nor just. Every time I focus my power I have to consider the moral and ethical ramifications for what I'm doing

"You don't seem to have much restraint with trespassing on peoples mind right now, do you?" Sky accused, glaring at her viciously.

_~Extreme circumstances. The actions I take now are not the ones I'd usually dare risk. Don't forget, Prince Sky, you've only known me for a few days and we're at war. We can't afford to have the same moral integrity we have when at peace. Not if we want to win. Like everyone else here I have a family at home, and I am willing to risk everything to protect them.~_

"If you wanted to protect them you should have read the Trix's minds and seen this coming!" Sky hissed accusingly.

"You still don't get it. A power like mine has consequences. You own a cell phone but I doubt you'd want to intercept every call in your region," Seleena predicted. Sky rolled his eyes and readied another smart-assed comment, but before the words could leave his tongue his mind expanded and a deluge of voices came crashing down on him, overlapped one another in an overwhelming crush.

_. . . Oh gods, how are we going to survive . . . I would kill for some toothpaste right now. . . I hope my parents are doing okay . . . How did I get the 'Do You Like Waffles' song stuck in my head . . . We're going to die here . . . I can't tell if I'm eating rabbit or squirrel . . . I wanna go home . . . I can't believe I'm gonna die a virgin . . . Oh my god . . . Do you like waffles? Yeah we like waffles . . . Do you think they found the Link and the Lamb yet . . . This log is making my butt go numb . . . Chucky and Annabelle are totally getting it on . . . Do you like pancake? Yeah we like pancakes . . . Oh god . . . I wouldn't put it pass Icy to murder all the teachers . . . I hope this is all over in time for Hero Mission 3 to be released . . . If I keep staring at this fire I'm going to fall asleep . . . Do-do-do-do, can't wait to get a mouthful . . . Eh, what's with all the tongue? Bet I'm the first girl he's kissed . . . Waffles . . . I need to pee again . . . Don't cry, big girls don't cry . . . Waffles . . . We're all gonna become rot monster mulch . . . How are we supposed to do this without the Dragon Fire . . . Waffles . . . We're gonna die . . . Damn, I think I'm getting a zit . . . I don't want to be one of Darcy's minions . . . Waffles . . . I can't die, I haven't found my true love yet . . . It's only a matter of time before the Army of Decay move far enough out and find us . . . do-do-do, can't wait to get a mouthful . . . If I survive this I won't care if she turns me down, I'm asking her out . . . Maybe if we attack Cloud Tower head on we'll be able to take out Icy . . . Dear gods . . . There's no way we'll survive this . ._ .

Suddenly there was jarring silence.

Blinking owlishly, Sky was shocked to discover that he was on his knees with his hands cradling his head and his entire body trembling like a leaf. That mental onslaught had literally floored him.

"And that's just a small sampling from this camp," Seleena said, staring down at the specialist kneeling before her. "I spent the first few years of my magical education just focusing on blocking people out. On isolating myself for the sake of my own sanity. Then when I started at Cloud Tower and encountered Darcy . . ." Seleena trailed off. She stared off silently into the dark for a moment so she could collect her thoughts "Hindsight is a bitter pill to swallow. I never saw the threat that Icy, Darcy and Stormy were because as a freshman I made a choice to turn a blind eye to them (4). I _chose_ not to look so now I must to make up for that. Hopefully, your Highness, you'll live long enough to see everything in hindsight too."

And with that cryptically comment, she turned to walk away into the darkness.

* * *

For Musa, the night that followed was the hardest she had faced since the Army of Decay had been summoned.

All the rain, hunger and fear she had experienced over the week had nothing on the feeling of helpless dread that came with simply watching the hero sitting next to her. Riven was hunched over, gripping his upper arms as spasms visibly wracked his body. His skin was pale and his clothes were damp from a combination of the mist and his sweat. They had only managed to get him to drink enough water to just keep him within the ranges of hydration but he was still refusing to eat anything. However the thing that had Musa really worried was his inability to sleep.

It was well past midnight when Musa watched Riven jerk himself awake once again, only seconds after he had dozed off.

"Riven, why don't we just go lie down for a little bit?" Musa suggested but Riven was shaking his head before she had even finished the sentence.

"No, I'm good here," Riven tried to convince her, shifting his body and blinking tiredly.

"Yeah right," Musa scoffed but she decided not to push the matter. The poor guy was suffering enough without her nagging and the idea of curling up in one of the lean-tos wasn't quite appealing when she remembered Discymphia would be following everywhere Riven went. The rest of their friends had gone to bed hours ago, but the witch was still on her log, tapping her foot in a steady beat.

_Tap tap . . .Tap tap . . . Tap tap . . ._

Musa still infuriated that Riven had been assigned a guard but she also knew there was nothing she could do about it. There was also a strange buzzing in her ears which had begun with the witch's arrive that left Musa with a headache. They may be from the same realm, but the two Harmonic Nebulites clashed on a fundamental level; Musa strove for harmony while Discymphia seemed to thrive in cacophony. Their differences had resulted in Musa being rather short with Discymphia but the witch didn't seem affected by any sharp words that were thrown her way. She just sat quickly, apart from her constant tapping.

_Tap tap . . .Tap tap . . . Tap tap . ._ .

Ignoring the presence of the third person and the low buzzing in her ears, Musa focused her attention on Riven. He really did look like he was suffering terribly. Shuffling closer to him, Musa put her arm across his shoulders and pulled him against her. "C'mere."

"W-What are you doing?" Riven stammered, his body tense. He wasn't usually one for such close contact but he didn't have the energy to pull away. Also, he privately liked how warm Musa's body felt against his.

"Trying to get you more comfortable. Now relax," Musa ordered gently. There were a few long beats where Riven remained stiff and then all at once he sagged against her. "Attaboy."

"_Hmmm_," Riven moaned softly, a content expression crossing his face for the first time since he had been found. Musa smiled at the sight and delicately ran her fingertips through his hair.

Ever since she had first laid eyes on him that day in the Black Mud Swamp, Musa had always found Riven to be extremely physically attractive. She also didn't find his bad attitude to be a turn off. In fact, that bad-boy-persona made her want him more. Even when he was at his worst and dating Darcy, Musa hadn't been able to just shut off the feelings she had towards him. It was like she was unavoidably drawn to him despite knowing that it was a bad choice. There was just something about him that made her crave sharp comments and blistering scowls (5).

"That's the one moment I regret the most," Riven suddenly said, his eyes still closed.

"What?" Musa asked, not following the train of thought that had just only been half vocalised.

"That day downtown when you were being chased by all those Cloud Tower students and I did nothing. That's the one moment I regret the most," Riven clarified in a drowsy sounding voice. "I'd be willing to go through everything else - The Day of the Rose, The Day of The Royals, getting thrown into the dungeons of Cloud Tower, all it - a thousand time over if I could go back and change that one moment."

Musa couldn't stop herself from smiling at such a statement. "For what it's worth, I forgive you."

"Yeah, but you shouldn't. At least, not so easily."

"I don't have the time or the energy to hold a grudge at the moment so I think you're just going to have to accept it."

"I should have to work for it more."

"I think you've suffered enough. Besides, forgiveness is free to give and only I get a say as to who I give mine too."

"But – "

"No buts," Musa stopped him, hugging him a little closer. "Now I think we're going to have at agree to disagree on this one so there's nothing left for you to do than try and get some sleep."

"_Hmm_," Riven sounded in ways of agreement, but both didn't end up getting any sleep that night. Riven was still suffering though flashbacks and other side effects of having his mental state messed with. The faint buzzing in her ears was still bothering Musa so when she heard two people approach their campfire she was temped to ignore them. However curiosity got the better of her. Opening her eyes, Musa looked up to see Seleena standing in front of her and Riven, flanked on either side by Calypso and Discymphia. The telepath had her dark gaze fix on Riven who returned it without hesitation.

"We need to talk," Seleena told him.

* * *

_(1) As mentioned in the Season 2 episode "Reaching for the Sky"_

_(2) I imagine the Hero Mission trilogy being Mission Impossible meets Hero Duty for Wreck It Ralph _

_(3) Discymphia: pronounced Dis-sim-fi-a. Like it's explained later in this chapter, she's from the Harmonic Nebula but instead of trying to obtain perfect harmony like Musa does, she operates best in a state of disharmony, or dis-symphony if you'll let me invent a word. The fact that the first for letters of her name spell out Disc (like a CD) is just a bonus. For a while there I was calling her Discorda but then I realised that that's the name of the Pixie Elder in Cloud Tower. Anyway, it all worked out good in the end._

___(4) People were wondering why Seleena didn't see the Army of Decay coming, so I answered it. I think having telepathy would be a horrible burden. That's why I'd pick super speed and/or teleportation as my super power._

_(5) Okay, as much as I like the fact that Musa and Riven don't have the picture perfect relationship the others have, after what happened in the 4th Season and what I've seen of the 5th I think the writers are pushing it a bit far. I mean at some point the pair's gotta realise that all this on-again-off-again crap does not make for a healthy relationship. That's why I like the 4Kids canon; their contract expired before they went into that Season 4 mess so you can picture Riven starting to get his act together by the time he graduated his senior year_

_And now we're up to the bit where Seleena's game plan gets put into motion. Yes, there is a plan and Discymphia's got a part to play. Also some of you may have noticed the "Do You Like Waffles?" song by Parry Gripp in that mental onslaught Seleena put Sky through. It's a little random, I'll admit, but surely not everyone in that camp would be thinking gloomy thoughts. I just couldn't put in the French toast line since I don't think people in the Magical Universe know about France let alone how they make their toast. _

_TBC. But first . . ._

_Do you like waffles? Yeah, we like waffles!_

_Do you like pancakes? Yeah, we like pancakes! _

_Do you like French toast? Yeah, we like French toast!_

_Do-do-do-do, can't wait to get a mouthful!_

_Waffles! (x4)_

_Do-do-do-do, can't wait to get a mouthful!_

_Do you like waffles? Yeah, we like waffles! _

_Do you like pancakes? Yeah, we like pancakes! _

_Do you like French toast? Yeah, we like French toast!_

_Do-do-do-do, can't wait to get a mouthful!_


	16. Chapter 16

_By the way I just wanted to say thanks for posting over 100 reviews. I don't think of myself as one of those writers who holds out for a certain number of reviews but it's still really nice to get that much feedback so thanks heaps guys. _

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen**

Prince Sky was shaken awoke by someone with a firm yet gentle grip his shoulder. Sleepily bobbing his head, the blonde grunted, _"Hmm?"_

"I think you're going to want to get up for this," Helia's soft yet commanding voice advised him. Even with Sky's sleep addled brain he was able to acknowledge the accuracy of Calypso's labelling of the art student. The guy truly was a paradox.

"Okay," Sky nodded, trusting the teen he had only known for a day. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, Sky started to gently rouse the redhead that was curled against his chest. "Bloom?"

_"Hmm?"_ was the sleepy reply.

"I need to go check something out but you're welcome to stay here if you want," he said to her.

For a moment it looked as if Bloom was going to stay behind but then her eyelashes fluttered open and she started to push herself upwards. "No, I'll come too."

A moment later, the couple crawled out of their shelter and Sky reattached the cape they had been using as a blanket back onto his uniform. A quick glance his watch told Sky that it was almost nine o'clock and yet it was still quite dark, as if it was closer to five a.m. The days were steadily getting shorter, indicating that Stormy's cloudbank was getting stronger. Helia had taken a few steps back from the lean-to to give the couple a bit of privacy as they woke up and was patently waiting for them.

"What's up?" Sky asked him around a yawn, while being extremely aware of the fact that it had been several days since he had had the luxury of having access to a toothbrush (1).

"It appears that Miss Saleena is kicking Riven out of the camp," Helia's answered bluntly.

_"What?"_ Sky and Bloom exclaimed in unison. "Why?"

"I actually didn't sick around to get specifics," Helia said, moving off in the direction of their campfire with Bloom and Sky close behind him. "Things were pretty heated by the time Flora and I got there – she's gone to get Timmy and Tecna – and I thought it would be best to get you as quick as possible. Both Brandon and Musa looked almost ready to charge Miss Seleena when I left them."

There was a small crowd around the campfire when Helia, Sky and Bloom arrived. Riven was there, sitting listlessly on one of the logs. Brandon and Musa stood in front of him as if they were shielding him from Seleena who was surrounded by Calypso, Discymphia and Dominique. The speed witch looked a lot better than she did the last time any of them had seen her but there was noticeable tightness around her eyes and lips that indicated she severely irritated by something. Stella and Annabelle by the fire too with a few other Alfea and Red Fountain students and Sky could see Timmy, Tecna and Flora quickly making their way towards the group. And finally there was Chucky who was currently going toe-to-toe with the monochromatic witch standing opposite him.

"Red Fountain heroes are _my_ jurisdiction, Seleena," Chucky was telling her. "You just can't just turf them out on your own whim. This isn't an autocracy."

"You really need to stop deluding yourself, Charles," Seleena informed him in her usual cruelly matter-of-fact way. "Yes, you're in charge of managing the Red Fountain students but this little arrangement we have – this Triumvir as some people call it – only works up to a certain point. Ultimately one of us is going to have to make the harsh decisions and given that I was the one that orchestrated this tactical retreat in the first place I'm gonna to name myself as that person."

"Yeah well nobody elected you to lead."

"And this from the son of a duke. You're hardly the ideal advocate for democracy, Charles. Besides even if you ignore all that, you're a trained strategist and solider. You know that wars lead by a committee never truly works, right?"

Chucky didn't even try to answer her and all the Red Fountain students knew why. There was no denying that soldiers worked better when there was a clear chain of command and everyone knew what was expected of them. And out of all the students that made up the Great Witch Rebellion, Seleena was the only one who could see the potential of all the operative severing under her and manoeuvre they accordingly against the Trix.

"What exactly are you planning to do that's got everyone so riled up?" Sky demanded, breaking the tense silence.

"I'm sending Riven back to Darcy," Selenna announced a little too casually for Sky's liking.

"And _I'm_ telling _you_ that's not going to happen," Brandon growled like a protective dog.

"Yeah," Musa seconded, her navy eyes flashing.

"Why are you suggesting sending him away?" Helia asked Seleena politely. "Is there a risk of Darcy breaking through your mental shields?"

"Of course not. I'm much too talented for that. Now that's not to say that she won't send out more scouts to find him and then accidentally discover our existence," Seleena pointed out. "However that's not the main reason behind my decision."

"Could the main reason be that that you're just a heartless, evil old crone?" Musa hissed.

Seleena barely even reacted. "Oh no, I'm far too good looking to be described as a crone."

"But why send him back?" Annabelle spoke up, trying to get things back on track. "I mean, yeah, the Rebellion's great idea and all but our numbers aren't what we all wish they were. Surely we need everyone we can get."

"That's true but just look at the kid," Seleena said, gesturing to the hero in question. "The guy can hardly stand. If we put him out on the battlefield he'll be dead within five minutes, that I can promise you."

"You don't know that," Brandon tried to deny.

"Yes I do. He's a liability. I know that. You know that. Charles knows that. Hell, even he knows that. Don't you?" Seleena asked Riven directly. He didn't say anything but he did hold her gaze. "You're no good to me as a soldier, but you would be invaluable to me as a spy."

"A spy?" Timmy repeated in surprise.

"Well it's obvious, isn't it? Darcy considers Riven to be one of the finest conquest she's had throughout this campaign. She believes he is her most thoroughly spelled and therefore the most loyal hero she has at her disposal. He's talented, resourceful and she takes personal delight in the fact that she managed to pinch him right out from under the Winx Club's noses. If we return him to her – in a spelled state, of course – she's going to put him back at her right-hand side, giving us an opportunity to obtain inside information about the Trix's plans."

"I'm assuming you're going pull that off by setting up your own channel in Riven's mind," Tecna said. "Won't Darcy be able to detect your presence? After all, she is a telepath too."

If she was insulted, Seleena hid it well. "Just because I haven't been hovering over him doesn't mean I've been idle. I've been subtly threading him with magic ever since I knocked him out of the sky and making sure my tracks are well covered. Even if Darcy does somehow realise another presence in his mind there's no way she'll be able trace it back to me. I've taken every precaution."

"Look, there's no denying that having inside information like that would be a huge advantage but I don't think it's right to subject Riven to all that again," Sky objected. "He's in the state he's in now because of his involvement with those witches and you want to send him back there?"

"He's been their puppet for over six months now. He can last a little longer if it means bring them down," Seleena theorised. "All we've gotta do is take up the strings."

A light of understanding entered Chucky's eyes. "He's the Link."

"Well if you didn't see that one coming than you're an idiot (2)," Calypso said with a roll of her eyes. Chucky visually gritted his teeth to avoid responding to the Delta witch's jab.

"Calypso," Seleena warned and the Delta witch grinned impishly. "Now I need to alter Riven's memory and get him on his way as soon as possible. Darcy's been missing him for over eighteen hours now and I can only make hitting ones head and stumbling through the wilderness all night so believable."

An awkward and tense silence fell over the group. Everyone could see the value in having Riven as a spy but no one wanted to be the first one to admit it verbally. However there was one person who flat out refused to agree with it.

"It doesn't matter because he's not going!" Musa informed them all stubbornly.

Seleena let out a sigh. "There are no other candidates for this task."

"So what? We've lasted this long without a spy. We'll be fine."

"You know that's not true. Don't let your affections be the reason behind condemning the rest of us to an inevitable defeat. We need him by Darcy's side."

"For what? The slim possibility that he might overhear that the Trix's secret weakness is garlic and if we throw cloves at them it'll drain their power? You can't seriously be considering risking – "

"I'll do it," Riven interrupted, speaking for the first time since Seleena had informed him that she was sending him back.

Musa whirled around and stared at him in shock. "You what?"

"I'll do it," Riven repeated, getting unsteadily to his feet. "Musa, she's right. I'm in no shape to fight and if the only good I can do is eavesdropping on Darcy than I'll do it regardless of the risks."

"But you don't have to," Musa tried to convince him. "We can find another way."

"It's no more than I deserve," Riven shrugged.

"Oh for gods sakes. This isn't some pence you've got to go through!"

"You know that we need this! Why are you being difficult?"

"Because we just got you back!"

"This war isn't over yet and we've all got to do our part if we want to win!"

"That doesn't mean you should just gamble your life away!"

"Well hiding out here in the scrub's not going to do any good!"

"Oh enough," Seleena ordered, silencing the two. Addressing Riven she asked, "So you're in?"

"No!" Musa exclaimed.

"Yes," Riven answered at the same time.

"Riven!"

"Good. Let's get started then," Seleena nodded, ignoring Musa. "Follow me."

"Riven, don't do this," Musa begged, her blue eyes wide and full of anguish. _"Please."_

Riven almost faltered with those big, navy blues staring right at him, but he was a stubborn creature and he was determined to do all that he could to help bring down the Trix. With a sad smile he reached out and hesitantly cupped her cheek. "I'm sorry."

Musa only response was to duck her head so that he wouldn't be able to see the angry tears that threatened to slip passed her eyelashes. Movement in the edges of Riven's vision caught he attention and he looked up to see Sky approaching him.

"I don't like this any more than Musa does but good luck," Sky said, extending his hand. "And we'll see you soon."

"Too right," Riven nodded, accepting the firm handshake. He then clasped Timmy on the shoulder and gave him a reaffirming squeeze. Not trusting himself to speak, the computer genius tried to give him a positive smile but it ended up coming out a little strained. Everything about this farewell felt so final and Brandon's response was to pout like a four-year-old. Riven gave the squire an exasperated look. "You're going to make a scene, aren't you?"

Brandon glared angrily at his friend but it quickly crumbled into anguish. Before Riven could stop him, the squire had both arms wrapped around his neck, hugging him tightly. "You're a prick, you know that?"

"And you're an idiot."

"We're gonna come yet you. I promise."

"Get off me."

"I love you too, brother," Brandon said without sarcasm, letting his friend go (3). Riven glared at him with irritation bred out of discomfort in the face of such openly displayed emotions and then turned to follow after Seleena. However he had barely taken one step before he was being stopped again.

"I'm not done with you yet!" Musa suddenly snapped.

Riven like out an animal-like growl. "Oh what n – "

His words were then cut of by Musa seizing his cheeks, dragging his face down and slamming her lips against his. All fight shot out of Riven's body and was rapidly replaced with utter shock, causing him to freeze and stare cross-eyed at her.

Now Riven was no blushing virgin but he had certainly not been prepared for that. All his focus had been on trying to maintain a strong persona about the task he had been assigned. Despite the fact that he knew it was strategically the best move for the Rebellion, the last thing he wanted to do was to go back to Darcy even if he viewed it as penance for his transgressions. He was terrified of being sent back to Red Fountain in that awful, detached state but he was also determined not to let it show. So when Musa kissed him, it threw him completely of kilter and even when she pulled back he was still reeling in shock.

"Um, right. Yes. That was . . . Um, I should . . . I mean . . . I . . . Um . . ." Riven stammered, his eyes wide and his ears flushing red. He was so rattled that, to the amusement of everyone watching, he then began to shake Musa's hand as if they had just brokered a business deal.

The awful tension that hung over the group from the knowledge that they were sacrificing one of their own for the greater good was instantly shattered. Many had to cover their mouths to hide the fact that they were smiling or bite down on the knuckles to stop themselves laughing. Stella had to physically turn away hunched herself over to avoid breaking out into hysterics. Musa, however, could stare up at Riven with a bemused expression as he continued to pump her hand and rattle on.

"So I'll just . . . That is to say . . . Um . . . I . . . You . . . Yes, well . . . I, um . . . I-I-I don't know why I'm doing this actually," Riven admitted as he finally became aware of what he was doing. Dropping Musa's hand like it was hot, Riven could only stare at her as the red in his ears spread to his cheeks and then down his neck. "So, I'm gonna just go now."

"Okay," Musa smiled, more than a little bit thrilled that one kiss from her had left him so flustered.

"Right. Yes," Riven nodded, then turned and practically fled after the witches. Suddenly the idea of being turned back into a zombie seemed so much more appealing than it did a minute ago.

The faint smile that tugged at the corner of Seleena's lips told Riven that the telepath was aware of his thought. However she was all business as she reached up and placed her fingertips at his temples. "Now, I'm gong to put your mind into what's basically a standby mode. You won't be able to acknowledge any of us or anything we do, but you won't be able to register Darcy's influence either. Once you're a safe distance from the camp, you'll reconnect with Darcy and it will be as if this whole little interlude never happened. Got it?"

"I think so."

"Well it doesn't really matter anyway. And for what it's worth I want you to know I apologise for this and everything else I'm going to put you through," Seleena told him earnestly. "Good luck and goodnight."

And as if a switch had been flicked, Riven's body went slack and his eyes became dull. His knees didn't buckle but he looked like a decent shove would send him toppling. It was a disturbing but oddly fascinating sight.

"So he really can't hear us now?" Chucky's asked, peering closely at the spelled sophomore. "Or see us."

"No he can't," Seleena answered confidently. A few of Riven's friends had stepped closer to see for themselves but Riven continued to stare blankly ahead.

"This is freaky," Brandon said, waving his hand back and forth in front of Riven's face. Riven in turn didn't so much as blink. "It's like he's one of those creepy wax replicas they make of celebrities (4). Only, y'know, alive."

"Calypso," Seleena prompted and the Delta witch didn't need any further instruction. Ever since she and Seleena had first approached the Winx Club's campfire, Calypso had had a long, red cloak draped over her folded arms and at Seleena's command she swirled it around herself. Before anyone could blink Calypso was gone but the red cloak was still swirling in midair like a large, fabric disc.

"What the . .?" Brandon gasped and then quickly jumped out of the way as the strange cloak suddenly lunged in his direction. It encased the lifeless Riven, making him disappear from sight and then the cloak bounded off into the trees like a fast moving, red shadow (5).

"What the hell was that?!" Annabelle exclaimed, her hand upon her chest in alarm.

Seleena gave her a mysterious smile. "Calypso's a very talented witch. She'll get Riven a safe distance away and then ensures he falls back under Darcy's control."

"I still don't see why you wouldn't let me transport him there," Dominique spoke up for the first time. Going off her tone it was clear that she had been silent this long because she had been pouting. "I _am_ the translocation expert."

"I know you are but I have another task that requires your expertise," Seleena assured her. "Starting with this; how long is it going to take for Riven to get from the drop off point to Red Fountain?"

"Well time equals distance over speed (6) and given the state he's in he's not going to be moving very fast. Plus there are other variables. Is it likely that Darcy would use the rot monsters to transport him?"

"No, they're developing a taste for living flesh. Darcy wouldn't risk exposing her favourite boy-toy to something like that."

"Alright," Dominique nodded, scrunching her face up as she worked out the calculation. After a quick glance at her sports watch she had her answer. "He'll get there around eleven-thirty a.m."

"Are you sure?" Chucky asked. He had always found those sorts of equations hard and Dominique was working with what he viewed as a lot of estimated figures.

However Dominique was a pro and she was utterly insulted by the question. "Yes I'm sure. This is my goddamned area. I know what I'm doing! In fact if you want to be really specific he'll get there at eleven twenty-six unless the ground miraculously splits open and swallows him up whole!"

"Alright! It was just a question. _Jeez_."

"Eleven-thirty. That's less than two and a half hours away," Seleena noted before turning to address Discymphia. "And you're sure you've got him?"

"Oh yeah," Discymphia answered the mysterious question. With Riven's departure, she had finally stopped tapping her foot. Instead she was now tapping her chest with an open palm in the same measured beat.

_Tap tap . . .Tap tap . . . Tap tap . . ._

"Okay, good," Seleena said softly, staring out into the distance.

No one said anything as they all watched Seleena close her eyes, bow her head and let out a deep sigh. Part of her long, dark hair spilled over her shoulders and fell in front of her face. Her hands were clenched into fists at her sides and her knees were locked. And for that brief moment she looked like the young teenager she was, tasked with leading this Rebellion against such impossible odds. But then Seleena raised her head, set her shoulders and opened her eyes to show that they had a look of such fierce determination that it stole the other teenager's breaths away.

"Right," Seleena nodded to herself and then turned to fix the others with her dark, focused stare. "Dominique, Discymphia, Princess Stella and Princess Musa, I want to see the four of you in my tent immediately."

"Yes Miss Seleena," the two witches responded, falling into step behind the senior witch who had began stalking towards her tent. Stella and Musa quickly exchanged a look before doing the same.

"Annabelle, Charles, ready your troops," Seleena ordered, looking back over her shoulder to make sure that she has their attention. "We attack at noon."

* * *

_(1) Just quietly, that would kill me. Like it wouldn't be fun not being able to shower or wash my hair for that many day but none of that would compare to not being able to brush my teeth. I am an oral hygiene nut and there is nothing worse than bad breath. If I don't have access to toothpaste or mouthwash you can guarantee I'll have breath mints on me_

_(2) That comment is me using Calypso as a mouth piece for my own thoughts. I know it's a bit rude but c'mon! One look at my other work and it's clear that Riven's my favourite character to writing so of course him a major role in the final battle. Actually, truth be told I issued myself a little challenge in this story not to rely too heavily on Riven like I always do and try to focus on characters I usually don't give much attention to. That's why he wasn't in the story for ages and why I spent more time writing from Timmy or Tecna's perspective than I usually would. _

_(3) I really like the idea of Brandon forcing this kinda bromance onto Riven. He's the only one who'd be able to get away with it _

_(4) Has anyone been to a Madam Tussauas? They're kinda freaky and apparently they can make ones that have a breathing function built into the chests to make it more realistic. WTF?! I would not wanna be stuck in one of those museums after dark. No way! And also if they truly are built perfectly to scale (like they claim they are) then Kylie Minogue is ridiculously small. She's seriously like a child _

_(5) If anyone's seen Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (which you should, the graphics will blow your mind) you'll know what I mean when I say Calypso stole her cloak from Vincent Valentine _

_(6) Let me know if that's wrong. I'm like Chucky and was never very good at those kinds of formulas, especially when knots per hour were involved. Pythagoras and algebra, on the other hand I could do so I'm not completely hopeless_

_Oooh, the end's in sight. Next chapter; Miss Seleena outlines her battle plan. Also isn't autocracy a fun word to say? It's right up there with triumvir._

_TBC. _


	17. Chapter 17

_There's a lot exposition in this chapter and I'm hoping it all makes sense. Probably doesn't help that I'm editing this after an exhausting weekend away that was great except for the part where we hit a kangaroo and smashed up the front of my friend's car. Friggin' roos._

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen **

The Rebellion's camp had never been so active.

Students were rushing around grabbing supplies and trading what little information they had. Weapons were going through their final checks, clothes were being altered and battle strategies were being discussed. Many students had taken the opportunity to get one last meal in since it was unlikely that they would get the chance to eat again until this was all over. Others were quietly trying to keep themselves from throwing up due to nerves. Alfea fairies remained in tight knit groups, hugging and softly sobbing as they considered what would happen if the battle didn't go their way and then cheering the next minute after one of them gave a stirring pep talk. Red Fountain heroes went through their routines with their heads held high and their jaws set while simultaneously trying to ignore the weakness that lingered in their knees. And Cloud Tower witches slunk through the camp like dangerous felines on the prowl.

The scent of war hung heavily in the air.

After Seleena's order to Annabelle and Chucky's to get ready, the monotone witch had retreated to her tent with Stella, Musa, Dominique and Discymphia and hadn't come out. Chucky had tried to argue his way into the meeting but Seleena had refused, telling him that she'd explain everything in her own damn time and he can just suck it up until then. Chucky had been furious and let loose a series of creative curse words that became so colourful that Annabelle told him he was behaving like a vulgar child. Now the two were silently seething as they paced near the front of Seleena's tent, waiting for her to come out at explain everything.

"What do you think Miss Seleena's got planned?" Tecna asked, cuddling up very close to Timmy. The two of them, the rest of their friends and indeed the rest of the camp were all lingering around Seleena's tent, waiting for the black and white witch to come out and tell them what exactly was happening.

"I honestly don't know. If she's got a plan then why don't Chucky and Annabelle know about it?" Timmy countered, not liking how on edge the two seniors looked.

"Oh, this is killing me," Brandon groaned, burying his face in his hands. "What would she want with Stella?"

"It's got to have something to do with Riven," Sky theorised. "Miss Seleena is waiting until he's back at Red Fountain before she plans to attack."

"But isn't he just meant to be a spy?" Bloom asked.

"I'm sure she's got plans for him that she didn't clear with anyone else," Sky growled.

"Well we have no choice but to wait and see," Helia reminded them all, his arms wrapped around a trembling Flora. The flower fairy nerves had taken a backslid with the announcement of war but she was trying to hold it together as best she could. All chatter suddenly died off as Seleena stepped out of her tent, the four younger girls trailing behind her. Dominique, Discymphia and Stella all had their heads high and determined lights in their eyes but Musa's eyes had a red tinge to them and her head was bowed.

"Musa looks like she's about to cry," Brandon noted to no one in particular, his honorary brotherly instincts flaring up.

"Seleena!" Chucky shouted, catching the attention of the entire camp. "What the hell is going on?! You just can't launch into a battle without any planning! You'll get us all killed!"

"Oh Charles, can you please make up you mind? One minute I'm moving too slow. Now I'm moving to fast. Your inconsistency is a little irritating," Seleena informed him.

Chucky was pissed as all hell but he wasn't going to let petty jabs distract him from the bigger issue. "You can't just expect us to attack at noon like in some cowboy movie. You have to have a battle plan."

"And I have one. I'm just about to brief everyone on it at once."

"Without running it by me? I'm the one educated in battle tactics!"

"Yes and what a wonderful resource your mind has been to me. Like a library that I can access at any time I want," Seleena told him. "If we survive this I'm sure your professors will be interested to know that I've stolen elements from the Battle of Terribar Fields, the Battle of Tol Daivious, the Siege at Airous and the Invasion of Elkis Island."

"I . . ." Chucky trailed off, blinking in surprise. Those were real battles she had just named that all Red Fountain students studied in their Battle History classes. Seleena didn't say another word but she did grace him with one of her all-knowing smiles before moving until she was in the centre of the crowd of high schoolers that were waiting to follow her commands.

"As I'm sure you've all heard, our counter strike against the Trix will begin in just a few hours," Seleena said to the crowd. She didn't speak very loudly and yet even the students standing furthest away from her could hear her as clearly as if she was standing directly in front of them. "And for this attack to work we need every witch, hero and fairy to not only do their part but to do it exactly as instructed. The orders you shall each be given will be based on your school and subdivided by your grades. A few of you may be approached after this by Charles, Annabelle or myself regarding specific roles we want you to be a part of, but unless you are spoken to by one of the three of us you must follow orders you are about to be given directly. This counter strike will only be successful if we follow our orders and work together. Those who don't follow orders run the risk of not only getting themselves killed but the rest of us as well. I cannot stress that enough. Every witch, hero and fairy _must_ do what is asked of him or her. It's your duty. Now, the map, please."

That last instruction had been directed at the witch from Zenith who had accompanied the group that had found Riven. The digital witch pushed a button on a small device she had in her hand and then, with a flash of green light, a holographic map of Magix appeared in the sky above the students heads. No matter where anyone was standing they could clearly see the familiar sights of Alfea, Cloud Tower, Red Fountain, the City of Magix and other landmarks such as Lake Crysalous, the Black Mud Swamp and the Standing Stones, as well as the many road that connected them all together. And then, far, far away from all those familiar places was the Rebellion camp.

"My god, we really are in the middle of nowhere," Helia gasped. It was incredible to think that the witches of Cloud Tower had been able to transport all these people out here with their limited resources and managing to do it without being detected by the Trix.

"So this is our camp," Seleena pointed out to everyone in case they couldn't work it out on their own. The little holographic Tree that represented the camp changed from green to violet and then changed back was Seleena highlighted all the other locations. "That's Cloud Tower, Red Fountain, Alfea and the City. Now, all our intel indicates that Stormy is here at Alfea, Darcy's at Red Fountain and Icy is in Cloud Tower, along with all our professors. We also know that less than twenty percent of the rot monsters are currently located within the city and school limits. The rest have expanded out into the surround forests and they're about here."

A purple circle surrounding the inhabited part of the Realm appeared on the map and students could see that the Army of Decay had already covered more than half the distance between the camp and the nearest of the schools. Another day or so and the rot monsters would find them.

"Our attack will focus on retaking Alfea," Seleena announced. On the map Alfea lit up purple and zoomed in to make it easier to highlight certain sections. "At the strike of noon, using Dominique's expertise in translocation and the power from Princess Stella's sceptre of Solaria, virtually all of us will be teleported directly onto the grounds of Alfea. Stormy won't be prepared for a surprise attack, giving us an advantage. Let's not waste it.

"Freshmen and sophomores of Alfea, Red Fountain and Cloud Tower; you'll make up our infantry. It is your task to engage and hold back the rot monsters in the area. Now I know I told you that only about twenty percent of the Army of Decay is nearby but keep in mind that the Army of Decay has expanded considerably since the last time we encountered them. You're going to have your work cut out for you and we can only pray that we're able to finish this before the other eighty percent make their way to us. I can assure you as soon as we begin our attack the Trix will order their rot monsters to return as fast as they're able.

"Therefore, before they reach us I need the senior Cloud Tower witches to create a magical shield that completely surrounds Alfea. No one gets in, no one gets out.

"Now Charles, this is the part where you come in. I need you to lead a company of your junior and senior heroes and the junior witches into school and retake the building. This will involve you taking on the spelled heroes that have been assigned to Stormy. They will not show any restraint when fighting you, so I suggest you prepare your battle strategies to account for that. It will also be your responsibility to find and release the students that Stormy has held up in her dungeons. Send any of them able to out to fight with the freshmen and sophomores. The rest that are too weak will have to be protected until this is all over."

"Right," Chucky nodded, clearly already considering possible strategies to complete his mission.

"Annabelle, I'm assigning you the pleasure of confronting Stormy," Seleena purred wickedly.

The grin that Annabelle returned could only be described as feral. "Oh, yes please."

"You'll take with you the senior and junior fairies, as well as some from the younger grades if you wish, however you must run your choices by me beforehand. Stormy will not go down easy but even if you cannot defeat her you must keep her contained. We cannot risk her breaking out of Alfea and rejoining her sisters. _We need the fight to come to us_," Seleena stressed. "Which brings us to Phase Two; annihilating Darcy.

"When we attack Alfea, Icy's most likely strategic response will be to order Darcy to send in her spelled heroes. Our numbers won't be able to compete against the combined strength of the Army of Decay and the Red Fountain fleet."

"Well then wouldn't it be better for us to divide our forces? Send half to Alfea and half to Red Fountain?" Annabelle asked but Chucky was shaking his head before she had even finished.

"We don't have the numbers for that," he informed her.

"Exactly," Seleena agreed. "Besides, we want the ship fleet and dragon cavalry in the air and on Alfea's doorstep. We also want Darcy to be projecting her mind into each of her minions because that makes her vulnerable to attack from the one person she won't be expecting: Riven."

Chucky frowned in confusion. "I thought he was just supposed to be a spy?"

"And that's exactly what I wanted him to believe, however he's actually closer to a sleeper cell than a spy. Shortly after Riven was brought to the camp I assigned Discymphia to him under the pretences that she was guarding him when in fact she was gradually channelling her magic into him, ready to be unleashed at the opportune moment. When the rest of you are teleported to Alfea, Discymphia, Princess Musa and I will remain here and when the time is right the three of us will detonate a psychic and sonic blast using Riven as our medium that will take Darcy out."

It was at this point that Musa duck her head and when her friends looked close enough they could see her body shaking with barely suppressed emotion.

"_Detonate?_" Chucky repeated. "You make him sound more like bomb than a sleeper cell."

"I guess you could choose to see it that way," Seleena shrugged.

"He's a walkin', talkin', tickin' time bomb," Discymphia chuckled in her husky way to which Seleena frowned at her but otherwise didn't acknowledge.

"Is there any chance Darcy might discover the magic that's been fed into Riven?" Annabelle asked.

"No, I was _very_ subtle," Discymphia assured them all.

"Discymphia thread her magic in using his natural life pulse," Seleena explained further. "Darcy won't be able to differentiate the magic from his heartbeat."

Even now everyone could see that Discymphia hand was tapping out the beat of a human heart on her chest. _Tap tap . . .Tap tap . . . Tap tap ._ . .

"Now when this blast hits Darcy it will in turn affect every hero whose mind she had infiltrated. It will be the equivalent of momentarily cutting off the power to a running computer. The individual's mind will shut down and then reboot itself back to its original settings. Of course the risk is that these heroes are going to be in ships and on dragons so they're literally going to be dropping out of the sky. That's why we're going to want to wait until they are close to Alfea so that the witches and fairies battling outside can throw out some magic to at the very least cushion their fall."

"Now hold up," Chucky interrupted. "It sounds like we're basing a lot of this plan on the hope that Riven's standing beside Darcy when we get to this stage of the battle. Who's to say that he won't be the one leading Darcy's attack?"

"Even if he does then it will still work since they're so tightly linked on a psychic level. However, my money's on Darcy keeping her Puppy Dog very close to her."

"And what makes you say that?"

"Because in chess the pawns always go first. We've already staged one surprise attack against the Trix and Darcy would be an idiot to send out all her forces. She has no idea what we're capable of and her sense of self-preservation is too strong for her to leave herself vulnerable. She'll keep Riven by her side because there's nothing more appealing than having someone who's willing to die for you act as your shield," Seleena reminded them all.

"With Darcy gone and Stormy on her way, Icy will have two options; hold herself up in Cloud Tower and wait for Stormy's cloud-bank to inevitably be penetrated by the massive army waiting on the other side of it, or to come to and deal with us directly."

"And if that's that case, what then?" Annabelle asked hesitantly. The look that Seleena gave her was one of pure confidence and determination.

"Well then she'll have to face off against the one person I can trust to actually do the job," Seleena said firmly. "Myself. Now, dismissed!"

* * *

After Seleena dismissed the company and retreating back to her tent to discuss things further with Chucky and Annablle, the rest of the Rebellion exploded into a loud rumble of nervous chatter and energy.

Brandon broke rank and bolted to Stella's side, pulling her into an almost painfully tight embrace. "Stella."

"Brandon," Stella practically sobbed. There had been so much build up to this moment and now that it was actually happening to was almost too much to process.

"Solarian," Dominique's voice shattered their moment. "I'm gonna get started."

"Right, I'll be there in a tick," Stella promised and in a flash the speed witch was gone.

"What are you doing?"

"Dominique and I need to built a transportation array. Even with my sceptre and her natural abilities it's not going to be easy to teleport this many people and we need to get them to reappear in exactly the right locations," Stella explained. "It's going to take a lot of planning and we don't have much time so I'm going to have to go but . . ."

"Yeah?"

"Could you . . ." Stella trailed off and Brandon followed her glaze to where Musa was standing with her head bowed and her arms wrapped around her. "Could you take care of her?"

"Of course," Brandon agreed instantly. He didn't really understand why Musa was so upset and unfortunately Stella didn't have time to explain.

"Thanks snookums," Stella said, standing on her tiptoes to give him a quick peck on the lips before running off after Dominique.

"Hey," Brandon said softly as he placed a gentle hand on Musa's shoulder. The musical fairy jumped as if she hadn't heard him approach which was a testament to just how distracted she was. With a soft smile Brandon held opened his arms to her just as he had done when they had found each other in the Black Mud Swamp. "C'mere."

And just like she had done in the Swamp, Musa threw herself into his embrace, except this time she didn't try to hold back the tears.

"Whoa, whoa. It's alright. Shhh, it's okay," Brandon told her, rubbing her back in slow comforting circles. You didn't have to be a genius like Tecna or Timmy to know what had gotten her so upset. "Don't worry. Riven's tough. He'll be fine."

"Shut up!" Musa suddenly exploded, shoving him off her.

"Musa," Brandon gasped, more than a little taken back by her unexpected rage. He was aware of the fact that they had gained the attention of a few of the other rebels but he couldn't move his focus away from Musa long enough to care.

"You don't know _anything_, Brandon," Musa accused, tears still spilling from her blazing eyes. "We're hitting him with a psychic-sonic blast. One that's been building inside him for over nineteen hours now. We're going to detonate a bomb in a person who isn't designed to even have magic and have it explode out of his head! And if you think for one second that he's going to be able to walk out of that unscathed then you need to reconsider becoming a hero because you don't know shit about risk assessment!"

"Musa."

"You're such an idiot," Musa sobbed, her anger rapidly draining away.

"I know," Brandon assured her, hesitantly pulling her back into a hug. Musa remained tense for a couple seconds and then melted against his chest. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

Musa's only reply was a few loud sniffs.

"But I know that Riven would never hold this against you. He might be a moody, lying, thieving, arrogant, frustrating, egotistical, stubborn, vindictive, arrogant -"

"You already said that," Musa pointed out, a tiny amount of humour in her voice at Brandon's description of their friend.

"Yeah, well, have you met the guy? My point is that despite being all those things, he's also logical. He knows that sometimes you need to do horrible things for the greater good and I just know if he had a say in what was about to happen he'd back it without a seconds thought."

"It's not like I can really get out of it either," Musa reasoned, scrubbing her face with the back of her hand. "Even if I refuse to take part Discymphia will still go ahead, only with a weaker attack than it would be with the two of us combined. Riven would go through all that and it might not even work the way we want it to."

"The quest's more important than the hero (1)," Brandon quoted one of his lessons.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"I know. Me either."

* * *

_(1) As quoted by Sky in Season Two Episode 4 "Queen of Perfection"_

_Now, did everyone understand all that? It's a bit confusing, I know, but hopefully it gives you a bit of an idea of what to expect in the final battle. _

_TBC._


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen **

Once Musa managed to get her emotions back under control (the poor fairy had been on one hell of an emotional roller coaster over the last twenty-four hours) she and Brandon went and found the rest of their friends. They were all over with Stella and Dominique, who were busy laying out the plans for the teleportation array.

Teleportation wasn't as easy as some people made it look. Witches were generally better teleporting themselves than fairies but when it came to teleporting others even they struggled with it. Stella's sceptre was powerful enough to teleport the Princess and her four friends but any more than that might become difficult. So to translocation a company was large as the Rebellion was going to be a huge undertaking. Therefore, at Seleena's suggestion, the two teenaged girls were building a large teleportation array on the forest floor that would help channel their powers and evenly circulated it around everyone that was being translocated.

"This tree's in the way," Dominique announced, staring up at the huge tree before her.

"So?" Stella asked, overseeing some heroes pulling a log out of the space they were clearing.

"So it's gotta go."

"You are _not_ ripping out a tree just so you can draw some symbol on the ground," Helia told her sharply, catching everyone's attention. Since his arrival, Helia had been the very definition of composure and serenity. However it was starting to look as though, given the right motivation, he could have the ferocity of a winger liger.

Then again, Dominique was no coward either. "I'm building an array that will amplify our teleportation abilities and for it to work we can't have any broken lines so the trees gotta go."

"Why can't you build the array elsewhere?" Helia asked.

"Because in case you haven't noticed we're in the middle of a friggin' forest. This is the largest open space we've got out here. Ergo, is the only place we can properly draw the array to the size we need and this bloody tree's in the bloody way!"

"Well that doesn't mean I'm going to let you uproot it!"

"Um, I might have an idea?" Flora hesitantly raised her hand in the air. The nature fairy crouched down beside the tree and placed her hand near the base of its trunk. "Could you help us out, please?"

For a moment it looked like nothing was happening and then all at once the tree started to rise itself up on its roots, leaving a small gap between the tree and the ground. Dominique lay down on her stomach and surveyed the now unobstructed space.

"Yup, I can work with this," she said. "The array lines will go between these two roots and come out the other side right about there. Can you keep the tree up for as long as we need?"

"Oh, you don't need me to do that," Flora smiled, patting the tree lovingly. "It'll do that on its own."

"Lying down on the job I see," a voice teased and everyone looked up to see Annabelle standing behind the group. The look Dominique shot her as she climbed back to her feet was blazing. "How's it going?"

"_Fine_," Dominique assured her, the word heavy with contempt.

"That's great. So you'll be able to deliver what we need at midday?"

"Of course. Now if you don't mind I've got work to do."

"She's darling, isn't she?" Annabelle grinned as the witch stomped off. "Stella, I wanted to talk to you."

Stella turned to face her. "Yeah? What about?"

"I wanted to see if you'd want to be a part of the team I'm leading to take on Stormy."

"Just me?" Stella asked, her eyes flicking briefly in Bloom's direction.

Annabelle didn't seem too pleased with the answer she was giving. "I wanted to bring all the Winx Club along, but Seleena wouldn't allow it. She's been really cautious about sending lower class-men up against the Trix. The only reason she gave Stella clearance is because Seleena believes that her sunlight magic will refracted through Stormy's rain magic, which in turn will amplify my magic."

"That is quite logical," Tenca agreed once she had contemplated the hypothesis.

Stella chewed on her lip for a second as she considered the offer. "As much as I want to stay with my friends I think I want to go after Stormy more. I'm in."

"Great," Annabelle grinned and then she turned to Helia. "Also I should give you a heads up. Chucky's going to ask you to join the squad he's leading to storm Alfea. After all, you snuck in there before and prior knowledge right now is a huge asset."

"I understand," Helia nodded, noticing the way Flora had become very tense. "I'll consider it and hopefully by the time Chucky finds me I'll have an answer."

"Okay, sounds good. Now, I need to go work out a battle strategy with the rest of . . . would I call them my squad?"

"Task force?" Timmy supplied helpfully.

"Oh yeah, I like the sound of that. Anyway, Stella, can you come listen in or do you need to be here working on the transportation circle?" Annabelle asked.

Stella looked over to where Dominique was tracing the design of the array into the ground. "Honestly now that the calculations are done I'm not needed until the actual transportation begins so I'll come with you."

"Tecna, Timmy, would you two mind coming too? Seleena's might not be willing to let you fight with us but you're both good strategist," Annabelle noted. "Your opinions on this would really mean a lot to me."

"Count us in," Tecna instantly agreed.

And Timmy was only a beat behind her. "We're happy to help."

Tecna and Timmy were already collaborating various statistics and possibilities as they left with the two Solarian fairies. Helia casually made his way over to where Flora was sitting on the ground, her head bowed and her shoulders hunched.

"Walk with me?" he asked, offering her his hand. After a second of hesitation, Flora accepted it and let him help her stand. She expected him to let her go once she was steady on her feet but was pleasantly surprised when he shifted his grip to link his fingers through hers and led her on a leisurely stroll through the trees. Helia noticed Sky's eyes on them as they left but then the Prince was distracted by Bloom tapping him on the shoulder. Only once he was sure they were alone did Helia speak. "Are you going to be alright? Going back to Alfea?"

"I hope so," Flora answered in a wavering voice. "The truth is that some part of me wishes never to go back there after what happened. But another part – a larger part – doesn't want to let those witches win. Alfea was my home. I'm not going to let them force me out of it."

"There's no shame in being afraid," Helia assured her. "But you shouldn't let that fear stop you from fighting against an evil like the Army of Decay. Especially when it's to protect your home."

"Do you think they'll ask me to help with storming Alfea and freeing the prisoners? I know a bit about the dungeons and Annabelle did say that any prior knowledge was vital."

"I'm sure Chucky will appreciate any information you can give him, but if you want my opinion I believe that you would be better off fighting alongside your friends. If you were separated from them part of you would be distracted, worrying if they were all right. Plus I've seen how you girls interact with one another. You support and give each other strength, making you far more powerful than you'd ever be on your own. They need you just as much as you need them."

"I suppose you're right but even if I fight alongside my friends I'm still going to worry," Flora admitted, a bright flush entering her cheeks. And then in a voice so soft Helia almost missed it she added, "About you."

Helia smiled and let go of the hand he was holding so he could wrap his arm around her shoulder, pulling her up close to his side. "I promise I'll be careful but the fact is that the task appointed to you is the more dangerous of the two. True, Miss Seleena did assign only the older students to storm the building but that's only because it takes more skill to incapacitate a spelled hero without hurting then than it would be to just take them out. You and your friends on the other hand are going to have to deal with all the rot monsters that are going to be swarming back once the attack starts. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I've got just as much reason – if not more so – to worry as you do. Although, at the same time, I'm comforted to know that you'll be out there covering my back. I've heard the others speak of how brave and powerful you are, and I believe them."

"Oh, they exaggerate," Flora blushed. In her mind she had always viewed herself as the weakest of her friends. She didn't have Musa's passion, or Tecna's brains, or Stella's bravado or Bloom's fiery strength. She was just Flora. She was nice, but nothing overtly special and certainly not good enough for someone so talented, compassionate and well off as Helia.

Almost as if he had read her mind, Helia stopped and reached out to gently cup her face in his palm. "You really don't see it, do you?"

"See what?"

Instead of answering Helia gave her a smile that made her knees feel weak. "I promise you that we're going to get through this battle, and then when it's all over I'm going to take as long as is needed to convince you of just how breathtaking you are, Flora."

Flora could feel the flush in her cheeks radiating out and spread throughout her entire body that then quivered in delight as Helia leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. It was a soft, gentle kiss – not at all like the hot, passionate ones that were described in books – but there was a heaviness to it that settled pleasantly down her soul.

Like a promise.

* * *

As Sky watched Flora and Helia leave hand-in-hand he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning, he discovered Bloom standing beside him, her eyes downcast as she shuffled her feet awkwardly. "Hey Bloom. Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," Bloom assured, him even though he could clearly see that she wasn't. "I just thought I'd let you know I'm going for a little walk."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No. Honestly I think I just need a little time to myself to get my thoughts in order. I just didn't want you or the others to wonder where I went."

"Oh, okay," Sky nodded, trying to hide his disappointment that Bloom wasn't willing to let him help. However he also understood that there were some things that people had to work out on their own so he didn't push the matter. "Well I'm here if you want to talk."

"I know."

"And don't leave camp. It's not exactly safe out there."

"Okay," Bloom agreed, sounding more amused than irritated. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips and then headed off.

Bloom really didn't have any destination in mind as she walk. She just knew she needed to keep moving to try to burn off some of her restless energy. Everywhere she went she felt the eyes of the other rebels watching her so she tried to keep to the more secluded parts of the camp. She knew they weren't judging her, they were just curious. Was she really the Last Princess of Sparx? Where was she those days between the last fight at Alfea and when she had arrived at the Camp? If she truly had the Dragon Fire then why wasn't Seleena using her? Was she really that useless?

In all honestly Bloom didn't know what she had done to receive such a cold shoulder from the telepath. It was so different from the way Faragonda had handling things that it left Bloom feeling very unsure of herself. It might sound a little arrogant but Bloom was used to people telling her how amazing her power was. It had been like that all year but now she had this witch telling her she had no use for her, giving Bloom's self-confidence a serious blow.

Bloom was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't hear the two people talking until she had almost stumbled directly into them.

"Would you just listen to me?!" a familiar male voice said with a noticeable level of distress.

"For what purpose?" an equally recognisable voice replied. Moving as quietly as she could, Bloom snuck forward and peered around the trunk of a tree. Not far from where she was hiding there was a small clearing where she could see the two seniors squaring off against one another. "I already know every argument you could possibly make and I'm just going to dismiss every single one of them. So why waste both our time?"

"Because you can't go up against Icy alone," Chucky told the witch opposite him, his hands clenched by his side.

"Of course I can," Seleena disagreed. "This is my Rebellion so I get to go after the big boss."

"At least take some of your senior witches with you."

"They'll just get in my way."

"Seleena!"

"Charles?"

Chucky let loose a frustrated growl and kneaded his eyes roughly with the heels of palms. Dragging his hands down the rest of his face, the young hero wore an expression of pure exasperation coupled with exhaustion. It resulted in him appearing years older than he was and very different from the charming young man that could make girls swoon with a smile. "Only my grandfather calls me Charles."

"I know. You told me that during the first conversation we had with one another," Seleena reminded him, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips in what could have been fondness or arrogance. "Surely you remember that? It was a week ago."

Bloom blinked in surprise. She understood that Red Fountain didn't have the same relationship with Cloud Tower that it did with Alfea, but given Chucky's clear admiration (even though it was tinged with frustration) he had for Seleena, Bloom had assumed the pair had some kind of acquaintance prior to the Trix's Invasion.

"It's hard to believe it's only been a week," Chucky laughed humourlessly, shaking his head in disbelief.

"It'll be over soon," Seleena assured him.

"Will it?" Chucky asked, his expressive blue eyes heavy with uncertainty. "Even with all of Calypso's predictions we have no way of knowing how this is going to end."

"Oh Charles, you make it sound as if you have no confidence in me at all."

"Icy's a strong witch and she has the Dragon Fire," Chucky pointed out.

"I'm not some kind of helpless kitten," Seleena said, all humour gone from her voice. "I am skilled in telekinesis, illusions and mental shielding strong enough to block any physical attack thrown at me. I can protect myself."

"I'm just trying to look out for you."

A heavy silence hung in the air as Seleena studied the hero in front of her with an odd expression on her face. It was some parts amusement and some parts confusion but it was also sad and sympathetic. "You're so transparent, Charles," she said eventually.

"How'd you mean?"

"I mean with everything. From the way you act to the way you think. Even the way you smile it's just so . . . obvious."

Chucky seemed utterly confused by her observation. "I'm not sure if that's meant to be an insult or a complement."

"It's both . . . and neither. It's just who you are. You're handsome, talented, selfless, intelligent and foolishly noble; everything you'd expect a hero of Red Fountain to be. As the only son of a duke so you were always destined for a life of privilege and I don't need a mystic to know what your future holds. When this is all over you'll go forward as one of the architects behind our success. Doors will be opened for you. You'll be a symbol of the possibilities youth can bring in the wake of such devastation. You'll be a celebrity and you'll get everything that goes with that."

"Meaning what exactly?"

"Meaning I think you should hurry up and ask Annabelle out already," Seleena told him bluntly. "I'm pretty sure she's picked out the names of your kids."

Chucky was startled by the comment that he stammered like he had been king hit. "Oh . . . I-I . . . um . . ."

"You two look good together," Seleena continued on as if the young man she was speaking to wasn't currently choking on his own words. "The media will love you."

"I'm . . . I'm not sure if I . . ."

"And you'll over you're little infatuation with me soon enough," Seleena assured him, causing Chucky's throat to seize again. "It only stems from your attraction to authority – which is why you thrived so well in a military school – and since I don't fall all over myself to get your attention you're somewhat intrigued by me. It's a novelty and a challenge that you wish to explore. Unfortunately, that's not an option so take my advice and move on. I'm sure Annabelle will be very accommodating."

"But I . . ." Chucky started but couldn't finish. All he could do was stare at the witch he liked against all reason with a look of such forlorn longing that it made Bloom's heartache. "You . . ."

"I'll be fine. I'm too good for you anyway," Seleena said with a sympathetic smile that was too quick to be sincere. "Now you need to go speak with your heroes and plan how you're going to take Alfea. I have another appointment waiting for me."

Chucky's angst had quickly changed to tragic disbelief as he regarded the witch. "How can you be so cold about all this? So damn official?"

"Because I'm required to be," was Seleena's immediate answer. "Now go."

A long silence followed as Bloom watched Chucky struggle to transform from the shellshock and rejected teen back into the focused hero that was required of him. In the end he managed to straighten his posture and adapt a blank mask across most of his face, but his expressive blue eyes gave away his turmoil.

"As you wish," Chucky responded, his voice controlled. And then, with a sharp nod, he turned and marched back towards camp without a backwards glance.

Bloom quickly tucked herself up close to the tree she was hiding behind as Chucky passed. The redhead was feeling confident she had just missed detection when Seleena spoke again. "If you're wanting to talk with me than please step out where I can see you. I may be a telepath but I'll still avoid conversing with disembodied voices if I can manage it."

Cowering slightly in shame from being caught eavesdropping, Bloom hesitantly stepped out from behind her tree. "Sorry. I didn't mean to overhear."

"It's fine. If I really didn't want you to overhear anything I would have put a stop to it," Seleena pointed out. "Now, you have questions and given that there is no guarantee of success I advise that you not waste what little time we have left."

Bloom certainly did have questions, but Seleena's cold attitude coupled with Bloom's embarrassment over being caught sneaking around gave the fairy an almost overwhelming urge to flee. Even since she had been brought to the Rebellion's Camp Seleena had disapproved of and intimidated the Last Princess of Sparx, who in turn had lost her courage. If Bloom had encountered Seleena a week ago she would have told the witch to stick it, but now the Keeper of the Legendary Dragon Fire simply cowered. All Bloom wanted was to not be hurt because she had never asked for any of this to have happened.

"I know you didn't," Seleena said suddenly, even though Bloom was certain that she hadn't uttered a single word. The witch's dark eyes regarded the hesitant fairy for a long moment and a troubled expression gradually settled on her face. With a heavy sigh, Seleena reached behind her and pulled her long, black hair until it fell over one shoulder. The action didn't alter her appearance that much – or at least not in the way it would if she went from constantly wearing her hair up to suddenly wearing it down – but the way she began twisting it between her fingertips gave her an air of vulnerability that caused Bloom's breath to catch. "You know what, I'm sorry that I act the way I do. I'm not usually so . . . hostile. Aloof, yes, but not . . . Extenuating circumstances and all that, I guess. If you had met me a month ago I doubt that you would have believed I'm capable of being so brutal."

"Oh, okay," Bloom whispered, not sure how she was supposed to respond to a comment like that. "Well then . . . ?"

"Why start now?" Seleena finished, starting to slowly pace the small clearing. "Because it's what this Rebellion needs. If our fighters spend too much time second-guessing themselves and our options we will never succeed. Therefore, they require a commander with a ferocity that won't accept failure."

"So . . . it's an act?"

"Hard to believe, huh?" Seleena said, a mysterious smile ghosting across her lips for a second. The witch halted her pacing on a large, flat rock located in the centre of the clearing. It was perfectly level with the ground so Bloom had completely overlooked its presence until she saw Seleena's black boots on its surface. "Back at Cloud Tower, I was what you might call a wallflower. I was smart but quiet, leaving all the boisterous and outrageous comments to others like Calypso. Ever since I was twelve I've awkward. Too pale. Too tall. All legs like some foal or fawn or something. Plus I always knew too much. Things people didn't what acknowledge. Curse of a telepath. Of course, that kind of insider information became very helpful when I appointed myself as Leader of this Rebellion. Anyone who might have objections to me couldn't keep up with my mind games."

"You are good," Bloom admitted. No matter what kind of person Seleena may have been in the past, she had been nothing but efficient in the short time Bloom had known her, even if it wasn't easy to understand her motives.

"There are three ways for a person to become famous; one, be born into it like you were. Two, work very hard and earn it. And three, be lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time."

"There's a quote similar to that on Earth," Bloom told her, recalling the time last year when her class in Gardenia saw a production of Twelfth Night at a local theatre. Seleena gave her a searching look.

"Hmm, that Shakespeare guy has talent. I might use that one," Seleena predicted and then gave her head a small shake to get herself back on track. "I always thought I'd be one of the people to achieve the second option, not the third."

"But . . . why? Why are you doing all this?" Bloom asked the question she had been struggling with all this time. "Why face Icy alone? Why would you risk everything like that?"

"Because it's my choice and I alone choose it," Seleena said truthfully. "That's all that this world really comes down to in the end; your choices. There are so many aspects of this situation – of this whole universe – that I have no control over, but I still want to do what I can to protect my family."

"Your family?" Bloom repeated, honestly finding it difficult to picture Seleena in a domestic setting.

"Of course. I have a father and mother, like so many do. I also have a little sister and, well, you would know better than other of lengths older sisters can go to in order to protect our little sisters."

"Right," Bloom nodded awkwardly. It was a little strange to hear such a stern witch speaking so affectionately about her and Bloom was honest enough with herself to admit that she a little jealous. She had only just discovered that she had a sister and she knew she'd never experience a bond like the one Seleena had with her little sister. It filled her with an ache she had not been expecting.

No doubt reading her mind, Seleena slowly stepped forward until she had standing directly in front of Bloom. Up close, Bloom noticed a strange anomaly in Seleena's eyes. They were as dark and unnerving as always, but now Bloom could see a minuet sliver of silver around the outer edges of her iris, like the lining of a storm cloud. "There's too much in this world that we have no control over so it's best not to waste time on them. Let's just focus on what we can change, which is why I choose to fight."

"Are you scared?" Bloom asked softly. Her fear of failure was almost paralysing and yet Seleena, who was probably more aware of the odds facing her than anyone else ever would, could calmly stare down her destiny.

"Of course, but fear's just a friend that's misunderstood and I don't believe in advocating for something unless you're willing to do it yourself. I don't think less of you for not going up against Icy, nor would I think any better of you if you did. So make your own choices without influence of what others might want. I've made mine. Remember that."

"I'll will," Bloom nodded, her voice so soft Seleena probably didn't hear it but she knew. She always knew.

"You'll be fine," Seleena comforted her, reaching up to brush a bit of Bloom's red hair off the fairy's face. Bloom suddenly thought that Seleena was probably a very similar to the way Daphne would have been. Talented, intelligent, authoritative, a little mysterious and compassionate in her own way but above all fiercely protective. "Goodbye, Bloom, and good luck."

"You too," Bloom replied. Her emotions and thoughts were too chaotic to get out a more complex sentence but Seleena seemed to understand.

With one last nod and a subtle smile Seleena turned and walked way, leaving Bloom alone with her thoughts.

* * *

**TBC. **


	19. Chapter 19

_**A/N: **Uni got evacuated today due to bush fires (and only 10 days into spring. It's gonna be a fun summer!) so I decided to not do my essay and put up another chapter instead. Ah, between hitting roos and bush fires I've had a real Aussie week. Nice._

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen**

Noon had seemed like such a long way off when Seleena had first called everyone to arms, but suddenly minutes were skipping by as fast as heartbeats and a strong sense unpreparedness crushed down on many students.

Each school found their own ways to channel that nervous energy. Alfea fairies had all transformed into their Winx forms and flittered from group to group like flocks of birds, chattering in voices slightly higher than their normal tones. Students from Red Fountain either engrossed themselves in memorising their battle strategies or meticulously checking their weapons and equipment over and over and over again. The Cloud Tower witches, however, channelled their energy by decorating their bodies with dark war paint. Some kept it simple with just a few lines on their faces and arms, while others went all out. Discymphia's designs were particularly extreme with the upper half quadrants of her face painted solid black as if she was wearing a mask.

It seemed far too soon when Annabelle and Chucky started ordering everyone over to the teleportation site Dominique created.

"I can't believe this is finally all happening," Bloom said quietly, huddled in a small group with the rest if the Winx Club. This was their last chance to say their goodbyes before the battle started. The knowledge that Stella was going off with Annabelle while Musa was staying behind with Seleena and Discymphia to take out Darcy only added to their anxiety. The specialists had given the girls some space but they were still close as they all shook hands with Helia and wished him luck with rescuing the prisoners.

"Stay safe you guys," Stella ordered. "Or I'm gonna let you have it when this is all over."

"Right back at you, Stell," Musa smiled genuinely, though it did waver a bit towards the end as water began to well in her eyes.

"We're going to get through this," Tecna told them all confidently. "With the element of surprise the odds are significantly in our favour."

"And we've gone through too much to just roll over now," Musa agreed.

"We can do this," Flora nodded, looking more and more like the fairy she was before she had been thrown in Stormy's dungeon.

"Then let's do it, girls," Bloom said finally and without any prompting the Winx Club came together for one last group hug before reluctantly breaking apart to take their allocated places within the array Dominique had drawn.

_"Ring of Solaria!"_ Stella summoned, throwing her ring up into the air and catching it again after it had extended itself into its spectre form. "I'm ready to rock now."

"You take care now, Princess," a masculine voice said from behind her and she looked over her shoulder to see Brandon standing there with a charming smile on his face. "You promised me a date when this is all over."

"And a princess always comes through with her promises but until then here's a little down payment," Stella grinned, kissing her fingertips and then pressing them to his lips. "You'll get something much more substantial when this is over."

"Well if that isn't motivation then I don't know what is," Brandon winked before hesitantly moving off to his placement in the array. "See you soon, Princess."

"See you soon."

The array that Dominique had created was large enough to fit the entire Rebellion within it and they were all situated to be in the best position to begin their tasks. The group Annabelle was leading to take on Stormy would be relocated in the quad directly in front of Ms. Faragonda's office, which meant they only needed to fly upwards and through the smashed window to reach the witch. Chucky's crew were going to end up closer to the buildings main doors so that they could quickly storm it. The senior witches were spaced out evenly so they could begin constructing the protective shield as soon as they arrived and all the other students filled in the gapes, ready to take on the rot monsters that would be coming for them. And then finally Seleena stood outside the array with Musa and Discymphia waiting to subdue Darcy before joining the rest at Alfea.

"Every witch, fairy and hero here knows his or her task so there's no point in me going over it again," Seleena projected to the crowed, levitating herself up so she could see and be seen by everyone. She was the only witch who hadn't needed to paint her flesh to make herself more intimidating. Her pale skin was almost luminescent with pent up energy and her long, black hair moved attractively in the wind, making for a rather captivating view. "But I will stress that this is our _only_ chance to stop the Trix. If we fail today there is no contingency plan. There is no tactical retreat. Not this time.

"Right now it is us verses them and if we fail it is not just Magix that will fall. The poison that is the Trix Sisters will spread. The Army of Decay will ravish realm after realm until the universe, as we know it, is gone. There is an army up there, just beyond the clouds, but it's not them that will save us. It is us that needs to save them. Your homes. Your family. Everything that you hold dear is at risk and we are the only ones who can defend it," Seleena told them, then it was like a switch had been thrown and they all felt her psychic power surge forwards. A pinprick of light started to glow from the very centre of her black eyes and then quickly spread to cover her entire eye with a silver light. And then, for a brief instance, the Rebellion all saw what she saw.

They saw the landscape of Magix raped of its beauty. They saw the woodland animals being consumed alive and twisted into monsters. They saw humanoid shaped cocoons on major streets in the City. They saw the captured girls at Alfea, the spelled heroes at Red Fountain and the imprisoned teachers at a Cloud Tower. And then they saw the fleet of warships cut off from them by the cloud-bank as well as the rest of the magical universe beyond that, all glued to their media sources waiting for news.

All that information came to them in a flash before their vision cleared. Those images should have unsettled and upset them, but instead it was like a fire had started in their blood and made them buzzing with pent up energy. They all knew that they were teleporting into the most intense war-zone this realm had ever seen but they also knew that they were the last line of defence the universe had.

"So be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them (1). We have an opportunity to be great and I choose to meet it!" Seleena informed them all. With her eyes still glowing psychic silver, the witch punched her fist in the air with a traditional heroes salute. "For honour!"

The salute may have been a Red Fountain tradition but this band of rebels had taken it and made it their own. As one the company punched their own fists in the air and shouted, "And the glory of the Rebellion!"

_"Now!"_ Seleena commanded.

With a sweep of her sceptre, Stella's teleportation magic swept over Dominique who was place right in the very centre of the array. A bright light that was a mixture of burgundy red and blazing gold burst out from the design that had been carefully carved into the ground. And with a flash of light, the Rebellion was gone.

* * *

For the rest of their lives, the rebels would struggle to recount exactly what it was like to get thrust into a battle the way they were for this one. The best description Tecna could come up with was that it was like turning on a television and coming into a battle scene with the volume too high. Only in this circumstance it was real and you didn't have time to grab your bearings before you were required to act.

The witches responsible for creating the shield where in the air before Tecna could even blink and even then it wasn't fast enough to lock out a few of the flying string rays that had been in the area. With a screech the rays scattered and swooped down on the crowd below. Each was taken out by a blast of magic or from the shot of a gun, but just like last time the monsters would just dissolve and regenerate. Outside the shield she could see other rot monsters gathering, trying to find a way past the Rebellions defences and attack the teenagers that had suddenly appeared in their midst.

"This doesn't get any easier, huh?" Tecna joked pathetically and smiles her friends gave in return were laced with tragic humour.

* * *

The first thing Stella became aware of as the magic from the teleportation spell dissipated was that it was raining over Alfea and she was still without her anti-friz leave-in conditioner. The second was that Dominique was lying unconscious at the feet.

"Oh my gosh," the Princess exclaimed, dropping down beside the witch. She was still breathing but it was clear that the teleportation had taken more out of her than they were expecting. However, before she could even shake Dominique's shoulder to try and rouse her, another witch had grabbed Stella by the arm and was dragging her to her feet.

"What are you doing?" the witch who looked like a freshmen demanded but then didn't give Stella a chance to answer. "You're supposed to be supporting Annabelle! Go!"

"But – " Stella started, looking back at the unconscious witch on the ground. Dominique might have been a feisty, competitive creature with a stubborn streak a mile wide but Stella still felt wrong leaving her in her such a state.

"You have a bigger obligation," the freshmen witch reminded her. "Go!"

Too overwhelmed to experience anything other than a fleeting sense of guilt, Stella took off in the direction where they knew Stormy was; Ms. Faragonda's office. Flora had informed them that the weather witch had smashed in the large window and the Rebellion was going to use that to their advantage. None the other girls that made up Annabelle's task force had been distracted the way Stella had so the fight was underway by the time the Solarian freshmen fluttered into the office. Of the seven girls that made Annabelle's task force only two of them was from Cloud Tower. Stella recognised one of them as the witch from Zenith and it was obvious why she had been assigned to help take down Stormy; cradled between her hands was an orb of magic that conducted and stored electricity, rendering Stormy's lightning bolts useless.

"_Ah!_ You worms! I'll _destroy you!_" Stormy screeched, letting loose another burst if lightning that was harmless absorbed by the Zenith witch.

"Not this time! _Spectrum Shot!"_ Annabelle counter spelled, hurling a multicoloured ball of light at the witch and all the others quickly followed suit.

_"Bubble Beam!"_

_"Blazing Comet!"_

_"Feather Arrow!"_

_"Scorching Hex!"_

_"Solar Flare!"_ Stella attacked but even with their combined efforts Stormy was still powerful enough to block their spells.

"At least try and make it a challenge for me," Stormy laughed before throwing her hands up and creating a tornado in the office. _"Rah!"_

_"Ha!"_ the witch from Zenith responded, throwing the ball of stored up lightning into the tornado. With a loud snap it exploded, dissolving the spinning vortex and sending out dangerous whips of electricity that scorched whatever it touched.

"Watch it!" Annabelle scolded as the bookshelf to her left smouldered but the digital witch simply shrugged as if to say _'eh, what're you do?'_

"You losers are just setting yourselves up for failure," Stormy growled. "Right now Darcy's mobilising her forces and the Army of Decay is on its way back here as I speak. This last ditch effort you lot are pulling is pointless. You're not going to defeat us."

"That's what you think," Annabelle smirked. _"Fractured Light!"_

_"Psycho Clone!"_

* * *

Helia wasn't a solider. He knew that. He had never pretended otherwise. He had turned down an offer at Red Fountain to attend an art school, which was probably as far away from the military as you could get. So to say that he was more than a little overwhelmed at a chaos that surrounded him as he bolted through the halls of Alfea was a bit of an understatement.

It was clear that Stormy had amped up her security after he had managed to slip in and rescue Flora right out from under her nose. For that brief moment he had been outside he could tell that there were a lot more rot monsters in the area and when he had run into the building, more spelled heroes than he had been expecting swarmed at him and the others under Chucky's command. Fortunately the heroes and junior fairies were very efficient at incapacitating Stormy's minions and after watching one of Chucky's classmates render a fellow (although admittedly spelled) student unconscious with a rather brutal looking chokehold Helia made a point to keep his eyes forwards and not focus on what was going on around him as he led the way to the cells.

"They're here!" Helia shouted over the noise of battle, coming to a stop before a large, metal door. Chucky was instantly by his side, studying the look intently.

"Looks spell free but we should counter curse it just to be safe," Chucky noted before turning to address the witch and hero standing behind him. "Desmond. Eliza. You're up."

The witch Eliza quickly erected a counter spell charm on the lock and then Desmond went to work scratching at the locks with his picks. Chucky moved on to inspect the other cells but Helia remained with the first one they had come across. That feeling of guilt he had experienced when he had helplessly walked away from the cells before had left a deep impression and this time he wanted to see what was on the other side of that door.

"Got it," Desmond announced a short time later. He tested the door and it opened a crack before looking up at Helia. "Can you deal with what's inside so we can go work on the other doors?"

"Of course," Helia nodded.

"Thanks. C'mon Eliza," Desmond said and the two older teens slipped off. With nothing standing in his way this time, Helia edged the door open slowly.

The first thing that hit him was the smell. By this time Stormy had kept these prisoners locked up for almost five full days without proper sanitation so a pungent odour mixed with the stale air was expected but not at all pleasant (2). However as Helia's eyes adjusted to the gloom he was greeted with a sight that was even more horrific than the smell. Cowered against the wall was the most terrified and pathetic looking group of young girls he had ever seen. He had thought himself prepared after seeing Flora in the state she was when he discovered her but it was blatantly apparent that the flower fairy had been spared a lot by being rescued when she did. The girls here were sickly pale and their skin was marred by various types of filth and, in some cases, colour bruises. Their hair was unkempt, their clothes looked damp and unclean and they were all violently trembling, although if that was from fear or the cold Helia couldn't tell. No doubt a combination of both.

"Please," one girl whimpered in a small, quivering voice. "Leave us alone."

Realisation hit Helia like a whip and he quickly dropped down to their level, holding up his hands to show he was unarmed. These poor girls weren't able to distinguish him from one of the spelled heroes Stormy had under her command.

"It's alright. I'm a friend," Helia told them all in the most reassuring voice he could manage. "I'm here to get out of here."

"R-Really?" another girl sobbed.

"Yes, of course. We're here to rescue you. This is all almost over."

"Hey," a voice from the hallway caught his attention and Helia looked over his shoulder to see one of the junior witches standing behind him. "There's a classroom just over here that wasn't converted to a cell. I think Stormy left it for the heroes to use as barracks or something. We should move the prisoners into there so we can still protect them but also allow them to get out of those cells."

"Good idea," Helia nodded and then turned back to the girls in the cells. "Let's get you lot out of here."

It wasn't easy getting all the girls into the other classroom. Some of them could walk but an upsettingly large amount were too dehydrated and undernourished to manage it without aid. Helia remained in the classroom getting girls settled as the others under Chucky's command helped them in. It was partly because Helia knew he had a compassionate, trustworthy face and he wanted to help reassure the girls that this nightmare was almost over but another part was hiding away because he didn't want to wittiness the incapacitated spelled heroes being dragged to and locked up in the now vacant cells. They would be released as soon as they had conformation that Darcy had been taken out and her spells lifted but until then they were too much of a risk to just be left out in the halls.

Eventually the last cell of prisoners were brought into the room and Helia looked up to see a young girl that matched a description he had been given. Cautiously he approached her as she settled herself on the ground. "Excuse me, but would your name be Mirta?"

"Y-Yes," the witch whimpered. She was as filthy as the other girls and Helia could clearly see the old track marks on her cheeks from tears that had fallen from her bloodshot eyes.

"I just wanted to let you know that Flora's okay," he told her with a gentle smile. "She wanted me to tell you that she's fine and she's going to find you when this is all over."

"Oh Flora . . . I was so . . . When she . . . I didn't know . . ." when she wasn't able to properly express what she was thinking Mirta just buried her face in her hands and started to cry. Helia gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze but then he noticed Chucky enter the classroom with a troubled look on his face and quickly excused himself.

"Most of these girls are too weak to fight," Chucky noted when Helia approached.

"They'd only get themselves killed if they tried," Helia agreed, surveying the beaten and broken prisoners they had just liberated. "Our only chance at survival is if we can take Darcy out."

Chucky let out a heavy sigh. "Guess that's all up to Seleena and those musical girls now."

* * *

_(1) I'm sure I've mentioned this in the past but I friggin' love Twelfth Night. My favourite Shakespeare play _

_(2) After than many days locked up there had to be consequences _

_**A/N: **Also I was in a bit of a funk when I posted the last chapter, which is why I didn't include any author's notes. So I jut figured I'd take this time to say that I always pictured Seleena as one of those bright yet quiet students who don't really peak until after high school. TBC_


	20. Chapter 20

_**A/N:** Can you tell I really don't want to work on my bioscience essay?_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty**

Back at the Rebellion Camp, a tense silence hung over the three remaining girls. Musa and Discymphia stood facing one another with grim expressions on their faces as they tapped out a beat on their chests, trying to successfully sync up their magic.

_Tap tap . . . Tap tap . . . Tap tap . . . _

Discymphia's magic had caused Musa's headache to reach an all time high, making her very short tempered with the witch. Being from the same realm should have sparked some sense of solidarity between them but it was clear that the pair operated to two very different beats that would never complement one another. Therefore, they kept their magic pulsing to a very simple rhythm and avoided making eye contact for too long because there was a gleefully excited glint in Discymphia's eyes that made Musa want to remove another chunk of her pink hair with her bare hands.

_Tap tap . . . Tap tap . . . Tap tap . . . _

Seleena stood in between the two Harmonic Nebulites so that she would be in the very centre of the spell once the circuit was activated. Her eyes were closed, her head was bowed and her arms were wrapped around her, making her appear very small despite the fact that she was the tallest of the three. There was also a tense frown on her face as she concentrated on her target at Red Fountain. Her theory that Darcy wouldn't risk sending Riven away when her own safety wasn't guaranteed had been to be corrected and the telepath was subtly observing the situation through the link she had set up in Riven's mind. She had also connected the other two with the link to give their attack greater potency and if Musa shut her eyes she was able to see what Seleena saw.

_Tap tap . . . Tap tap . . . Tap tap . . . _

The image wasn't as clear as Musa was expecting but she understood that, at this stage, stealth was more important than clarity. It faded in and out in time with Riven's heartbeat but even at it's clearest it was like looking through a sheer curtain.

_Lub dub . . . Lub dub . . . Lub dub . . . _

At first Musa hadn't realised exactly what it was she was seeing due to her inexperience with psychic magic. It looked like she was standing in some kind of office come bedroom but the colours were all distorted. It was as if she was seeing everything as a black and white movie and there were deep shadows around the edges of her sight. Darcy was there, leaning over a desk frantically studying something and occasionally gesturing viciously at a small, glowing lamp that was omitting a tinny sound. As Musa got used to this strange way of observing things, she realised that the lamp was in fact a holi-phone and that tinny sound was actually Icy screeching orders at her sister.

_Tap tap . . . Tap tap . . . Tap tap . . . _

It was also when Musa wasn't just viewing the scene as a disembodied entity.

_Lub dub . . . Lub dub . . . Lub dub . . ._

She was literally seeing through Riven's eyes.

_Tap tap . . . Tap tap . . . Lub dub . . . Lub dub . . . _

_"You need to destroy those losers!"_ Icy was shouting over the holi-phone. _"We can't lose Alfea now!"_

"My heroes are almost there!" Darcy snapped back. Even through all the distortion it was easy to see that the Dark Witch was extremely stressed out. She had been given the hardest job out of her sisters and it was always up to her to fix things when Stormy inevitably screwed up. And Icy's screeching demands certainly wasn't helping.

_"Where the hell did they come from?! Didn't I tell you we needed to send more scouts out?! We should have been prepared for this!"_

"You had rot monsters at your disposal! You could have sent scouts out! I had enough to deal with and now it's my job once again to clean up all the shit you and Stormy always create!"

_"Why you good for nothing – "_

"Shut up! I'm working!"

"Get ready," Seleena advised. The two musical teens began to tap their chests harder, their magic building as it reverberated around their thoracic cavities. The vibrations had a striking similarity to feeling a bass note reverberate through you at a rock concert (1). In their minds-eye they all saw Darcy pause briefly and look around her cautiously but then Icy's screaming insults brought her back to the task in front of her.

_Tap tap . . . Tap tap . . . Lub dub . . . Lub dub_ . . .

Musa wasn't exactly sure how but she knew that Darcy's air fleet and dragon cavalry were almost at Alfea. She somehow knew that the spelled heroes were currently taking aim and in a matter of seconds they would be within firing distance, which also meant they were close enough for Rebellions witches and fairies to catch them after this psychic-sonic attack knocked them out of the sky.

_Tap tap . . . Tap tap . . . Lub dub . . . Lub dub . ._ .

Seleena's glowing silver eyes snapped opened and her voice was hard as steel as she gave the order, "Now!"

_Slap!_

Musa instantly clapped her hands together, creating a circle with herself for her magic to flow through (2). Opposite her, Discymphia did the same action in perfect unison. After such a long build up the wave of magic that Musa felt build up inside her was more intense than she had ever experienced before and she was painfully aware of the fact that she was only holding half the spell. When she fully connected with Discymphia the result was going to be unprecedented.

_Slap!_

Like two little girls playing clapping games Musa and Discymphia brought their hands together and held on, creating a closed circle. Unbridled, musical energy rushed through them and in the very centre of it was Seleena. With a pulse of silver light, the telepath punched the spell away from them and forced it down the invisible chains that connected them to the Link. And despite no longer being in the centre of the spell the three teenagers all witnessed its impact.

It all happened very quickly – a second at most – but Musa was still able to pick up on frightening amount of detail. She could feel the spell spread up Riven's chest like burning magma. She saw Darcy turn and stare at them in horror as she realised what was happening but was unable to stop it. She felt her magic hit Riven's larynx and heard it product a sound it was never designed to make. A blinding pain suddenly erupted through her brain and her guts twisted with the knowledge that it was only a fraction of what Riven was feeling. She saw Darcy get thrown backwards by force of the psychic-sonic blast, hit the wall behind her and then crash to the floor in an unmoving heap. A high pitched ringing drowned out the sounds of shattered glass and crumbling plaster and the smell of ozone was overwhelming. The world was suddenly horizontal and Musa could feel warm liquid dribbling from her ears and taste the copper tang of blood on her tongue.

And then Discymphia pulled her hands away from Musa's and the circuit was broken. Musa stumbled weakly as all the sensations vanished so rapidly it made her dropped to the ground and begin to dry retch. She could on longer see the office, couldn't smell the ozone, couldn't taste the blood, couldn't hear the ringing in her ears and didn't feel any of the mind reeling pain. Even her headache was gone, but now there was an ache in her heart that she hadn't been expecting. Trembling uncontrollably, Musa didn't even realise she was crying until she taste the salty water on her lips.

"Oh god," she sobbed, covering her mouth as she fought the urge to be physically ill.

The world around Musa was alarmingly bright and quiet, and when Seleena spoke it was like a bell tolling.

"One down. Two to go."

* * *

"Here they come."

At the sound of Timmy's apprehensive voice Sky looked up to see the sight he had been dreading more than facing the Army of Decay again; the reinforcements Darcy was sending from Red Fountain. That meant in a matter of seconds he was going to have to fight against his fellow heroes.

Squad ships flew faster than dragons but they took more time to prepare for launch so in the end the head start the dragon cavalry got made up for their slower flight time, resulting in the two factions arriving at Alfea at the same time. The heavy rain had eased off to a light mist (no doubt as a result of Stormy focusing her magic on fighting Annabelle and the others instead of maintaining her storm) so Sky was able to recognise a few squad ships and dragon riders, such as Marcus and Pete (3) from his own grade. As a result the sight of the army coming to attack them was horrible on a variety of levels.

"Well if we survive this at least can say without a doubt that its pretty terrifying having the Red Fountain forces bearing down on you," Brandon tried to joke but it came out sounding a little pained.

"Get ready!" a voice hollered from somewhere above them. It was Calypso, who Seleena had placed in charge of the Cloud Tower witches until she was finished with Darcy. She was also tasked with overseeing the capture of the Red Fountain reinforcements once they were taken out. At her command the witches holding up the shield were going to make it semi-permeable so that spells could pass through as well as bodies. However that also meant that it was going to become less efficient against the rot monsters that had been gathering at the base of the shield. So it was up to the heroes to keep them distracted while those with magic were preoccupied.

"Oh, there's so many of them," Flora whimpered, staring with trepidation at the number of heroes they had to catch when Musa's attack on Darcy knocked them out cold.

"It doesn't matter. We can do this," Bloom told her friend. She might lack the confidence in her powers to go up against Icy again but she could handle this.

"That's right!" Tecna second. "Let's catch us some heroes!"

Back on the ground Timmy asked Brandon, "Should I be concerned about that?"

Brandon's answering laugh was a little on the hysterical side.

"Any second now!" Calypso shouted, practically vibrating with anticipation. The spelled heroes were almost on them and those who knew what they were looking for could see the canons on the squad ships adjusting their aim. Any second and they'd be within firing distance.

And then all at once it happened. Just like the time Tenca watched Riven get severed from Darcy's hold, it was as if they all ran into invisible walls. Riders were thrown from their saddles, dragons flew off roaring in alarm and squad ships were banking left and right and plummeting into nose drives. Musa, Discymphia and Seleena had done their job, now it was up to the others to try and reduce the fallout.

"Go! Go! Go! Go!" Calypso ordered and the sky flashed every colour imaginable as witches and fairies hurled spells out towards the falling heroes.

_"Digital Net!"_

_"Canopy Weave!"_

"Dragon Speed!" Bloom projected, sending the two nets her friends created zooming off to quickly catch two falling riders.

"Sky! Behind you!" Timmy shouted and the Prince only managed to duck his head just in time to miss a giant fist swinging into it. Sky spun to slice his sword across the rot monsters exposed belly at the same time as a shot from a bee kicker blaster connected with the monsters head.

"Thanks Timmy!" Sky called, for both the warning and the backup.

"Oh anytime," Timmy waved off.

"Hey guys! Can you look after these two for us?" Tecna asked as she and Flora guided their nets with unconscious heroes in them down to the ground.

"Sure thing, Tech," Timmy saluted with a smile.

"Thanks," Tecna waved before Flora, Bloom and herself flew off the help hold up a squad ship some of their fellow fairies were supporting.

"Let's get these two to the school. They'll be better protected there," Brandon suggested. One was a freshmen who's name Brandon couldn't remember but the other was a sophomore like them; Pete. Apparently back when they were in the fifth grade the pale haired hero had been Stella's boyfriend (Pete's family had a princedom within Solaria) so Brandon probably should have been a little threatened by his classmate on some level, but Pete was a great guy and fifth grade relationships don't really count. Plus Pete had told Brandon of an embarrassing nickname Stella had been saddled with, so the squire could easily put the prince in the princess's bad books if he ever needed to (4).

"Right," Sky agreed but they had only just gotten a decent grip of their classmates arm when his eyes shot open and he started to struggle. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. It's alright, Pete. Calm down."

"W-What happened?" Pete stammered, his eyes darting around him frantically. He didn't look as bad as Riven had been but he still looked exhausted.

"You were spelled, now you're not and we're fighting the Army of Decay. _Again_," Brandon summed up while Sky and Timmy carried the freshmen away. "If you've got the strength to fight with us, great. If you don't, we'll get you to the building. You'll be better protected there."

"No. I can fight," Pete assured him, weakly getting to his feet and pulling out his phantom spear. "Do they still dissolve and regenerate?"

"Yup."

"Fun."

"I know, right?"

"Brandon!" a new voice shouted. Pete spared a glance at the fairy zoning in on them but when he noted that she had no interest in him he leapt into the fight.

"Musa!" Brandon exclaimed. He wasn't expecting her back so soon.

"Miss Seleena and Discymphia teleported us here," Musa answered the unasked question. "Where are the others?"

Brandon didn't need her to elaborate to know exactly whom it was she was referring to and he was also smart enough to know that Sky and Timmy weren't included in that group. It wasn't personal and if he were in similar circumstances he'd probably act along the same lines. "Stella's with Annabelle and Bloom, Tecna and Flora are over there."

"Kay, thanks," Musa nodded, twisting in air to fly off in the direction Brandon had just pointed.

"Musa wait!" Brandon stopped her. "Riven, is he . . ?"

"He's alive," Musa said but the tortured look on her face told Brandon that his friend was not in a good shape.

"We'll pick him up and get him looked at as soon as this is all over," Brandon promised. The two friends shared a brief pained look before each moved to fight.

* * *

_"Sun Screen!"_ Stella cried, only just managing to erect a shield and avoid being hit by a lightning bolt.

The main purpose of Annabelle's task force wasn't so much to defeat Stormy; it was to keep her distracted. Even a fairy with Enchantix power was no match for the Dragon Fire so the battle plan was for someone to attack Stormy from behind, drawing her attention and defending themselves when she inevitably retaliated. Then another person would attack her while her back was turned and the cycle started all over again. So far they had managed to keep her confined to Ms. Faragonda's office but the witch was rapidly becoming more aggressive. Like a desperate animal, Stormy was throwing herself in every direction, looking for a weak point. She knew that if she wanted to turn this ambush around she needed to get outside and Stella wasn't sure how much longer she and the others could keep her from achieving that.

"This isn't gonna last," Stormy snarled, her eyes flashing dangerously as she pointed at Annabelle. "And I'm coming for you, Rainbow."

"Bring it! _Ahh_!" Annabelle countered, conjuring up another ball of magic.

_"Pinion Strike!"_ a fairy to Stella's right whose delicate wings had feather-like detailing attacked simultaneously, catching Stormy in the back and preventing the witch from effectively blocking Annabelle's spell. "Is anyone else really enjoying kicking this witch around like this?"

"Oh yeah," Stella grinned and, despite the fact that they were all sweaty and breathless, the other fairies agreed. The witches in their task force, however, didn't even crack a smile.

"Well then hold onto your wings 'cause things are really gonna get fun now," the Zenith witch said sarcastically, staring at something outside the broken window.

"What?" Stella asked. Following the witch's line of sight, her face paled and a sense of dread settled in her gut at the tsunami-like black wave that was coming towards them, bringing with it an icy cold wind. "Oh my god."

Icy was coming.

* * *

_(1) That feeling always rattles me at the very start of a concert but towards the end I end up loving it _

_(2) I really like how they do that action in Fullmetal Alchemist so I stole it _

_(3) Two canon mentioned names from the 4Kids dub. Marcus was mentioned at the end of episode "The Voice of Nature" in season 1 and Pete was in the episode "Party Animal" in season 2 _

_(4) Again, from the episode "Party Animal" where Brandon says that people used to call her Frizztella because her hair was so frizzy. Apparently that was before Stella found the right conditioner_

_**TBC.**_


	21. Chapter 21

_**A/N: **Okay, I need to quickly address something because I've been getting a lot of PM's lately about whether or not I plan to write a third instalment to my Brothers At Arms & Band of Brothers series of fanfics. The answer is yes, I have been working on it but no, I'm nowhere near ready to start publishing. I don't like publishing work in progresses because I like letting my stories kind of grow organically and something I write in chapter twenty-three might make me go back and change something back in chapter two which builds into something substantial. Take my OC Seleena for example; she evolved out of me just liking the chorus' costumes for one of the songs in Wicked, and then that became a whole thread about her being black & white, Annabelle representing colour and Chucky being a shade of grey in between. However once I wrote the final chapter and the epilogue I saw potential to shape a particular imagery for Seleena which meant I had to go back to earlier chapters so I could weave those threads in to get the pay off I wanted . . ._

_The point is I write in a kinda of nonlinear way, which unfortunately kinda sucks for you guys. Also it doesn't help that I either write like wildfire where it completely consumes me or like a glazier where nothing really happens for a long time. Sorry. _

_Anyway, back to this story where we get some insight into the interrelations of the Trix, see Seleena go up against Icy and see something that been slowly building for a while now come into fruition._

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One**

Icy had had enough.

Ever since the age of thirteen, when she had first obtained the Whisperian Crystals and learned of the legendary Dragon Fire, she had been planning for this day. She and her sisters had thrown themselves into research and had chased down every lead – no matter how faint – in order to find the ancient power. She had been in constant training to ensure that her physical, mental and magical state was at peak condition for the day she and her Army of Decay waged its attack on the Magical Universe. She had forced her sisters to do the same, and although there were areas where she felt her sisters fell short of the standard Icy demanded (such as Stormy's hotheadedness and Darcy's overcautiousness) she had thought that they'd still be able to do what was necessary. She had _thought_ that they could have managed the individual tasks she had assigned them. She had _thought_ she could have trusted them.

Clearly, she was wrong.

Initially Icy had believed that the blame had rested solely on Stormy. After all, she had been given the responsibility of hunting down and incarcerating any rogue students. She was supposed to prevent any kind of organised retaliation like what was currently happening at Alfea but she had screwed that up, just like she always did. Icy should have been expecting that. She should have never given so much responsibility to such an unreliable witch. Icy's gut had been screaming at her ever since that hero (or whatever he was) had managed to infiltrate Stormy's defences and rescue that Flora loser, and now she was furious with herself that she didn't listen to it. She should have stepped in and handled it right then and there but instead she had trusted it to Darcy.

That was her second mistake.

Icy had always trusted Darcy a little bit more than she did Stormy. In a fight Icy preferred to have Stormy by her side since they both shared a love for utter chaos but she still respected that Darcy was a different creature. The Dark Witch enjoyed chaos and mayhem as much as her sisters but she worked best when there was some kind of organisation about it. That was why Icy trusted her to work unsupervised because she knew Darcy would eventually get results. Unfortunately her perfectionist natured tended to result in her dragging her ass about some things, such as getting those heroes under control. Yes, Icy understood that it wasn't an easy task but it shouldn't have taken this long. Also Darcy should have listened when Icy ordered her to send out scouts but for some reason the psychic witch had developed a chip on her shoulder and hadn't taken her orders seriously. Not to mention that she had allowed herself to become too attached to that wannabe Riven despite Icy's objections and these rebels had used that to their advantage.

Now Darcy was lying unconscious with blood dripping for her ears while the control she had spent days constructing around her heroes evaporated, denying Stormy the reinforcements she desperately needed to stop Alfea from being reclaimed. So once again it was up to Icy to clean up after her sisters and fix her own mistake of ever trusting them in the first place.

If you want something done right, do it yourself.

At her command the Army of Decay swarmed up until it was level with the balcony of Miss Griffin's former office, allowing Icy to step out onto the solid surface. The last time she had travelled to Alfea, she had arrived in the manner of a person who believed they had already won. The throne was meant to signify that she was there to rule and everyone else should have dropped to their knees and accepted that. This time she was going to suppress an uprising of rebels that hadn't accepted their fate, so she needed a stance that showed she was there to kick some ass. The rot insects merged together to create her a platform as tall as her throne had been and she stood on it with her feet shoulder-width apart, her arms by her sides with her hands clenched into fist, her cape and hair flying dramatically behind her and a scowl on her face that showed she meant business.

Even thought it wasn't as fast as flying or teleporting, her rot platform was able to cut through the distance between Cloud Tower and Alfea at a fairly decent rate, however it wasn't so fast as to not give her some time to think. She could sense that there were enough rot monsters at Alfea to put up a fight but not enough to make it a whitewash. The rest were on their way but Icy knew she'd have to get her hands dirty for a bit before they joined the party. Not that she minded. She was pissed and wanted to take it out on whatever cowboy threw together this retaliation.

As Alfea came into view, Icy could see these rebels game plan. They had teleported into the school (Icy knew of a sophomore at Cloud Tower that had a talent for that and of course there was Stella's sceptre) and now they had set up a magical shield over the school in an attempt to keep out the Army of Decay. The school looked like a giant snow-globe. She could see colourful flashes of magic being thrown around Ms. Faragonda's office so she knew where Stormy currently was. If she had to wager a bet she'd say that they were targeting the Weather Witch to try and bring down her cloud-bank, allowing the forces waiting on the other side of it to get through.

Well, Icy wasn't about to let that happen any time soon.

"You losers don't seem to know when to quit," Icy announced, her voice booming unnaturally across the battlefield. A thrill shot through her body when a few fairies screamed at the sound of her voice. This was better than being a rock star.

Her rot platform wasted no time and brought her the edge of the Rebellions defences. Chucking maliciously, Icy outstretched her hand and placed it on the magical shield. With a surge of her magic, Icy began icing the shield and the combination of the sounds of ice cracking and people screaming was like music to her ears. In a matter of seconds the entire shield had been transformed into solid ice and when Icy clenched her fist the only defence the rebels had literally shattered around them. With nothing to stop them the Army of Decay swarmed and began pummelling the students who struggled to keep their feet.

Throwing back her head, Icy howled with laughter.

"Is this the best you can do?" she asked, her eyes flashing with undisguised glee as she surveyed the bedlam her rot monsters were inflicting on her enemies. "You pathetic weaklings! I bet that there's not one of you that has guts to try and stop me!"

And then, as if they had been waiting for the challenge, a pillar of light the colour of lightning through mist shot up from the quad and connected with the dark clouds above. It was a showy move and made for a perfect backdrop when Seleena levitated herself up to meet her opponent, her long black hair flowing and her silver white eyes shinning.

The grin Icy gave her classmate was feral. "Psychic Seleena. I should have suspected."

"Oh I think you did. You just didn't have the self-preservation to consider the possibility that anything would come of it," Seleena shot back confidently.

"I'm still not convinced anything's _going_ to come of all this," Icy said, observing the battle beneath her with an amused expression. "Are you sure you really want to do this, Seleena? I'll admit you're good at what you do but you'll never be at the same level as me."

"I might surprise you."

Icy laughed out loud, the sound cruel and cold. Holding out her hand the witch slowly created an ice spear that was a metre and a half in length and as thick as a persons arm. "All right, surprise me."

With little more than a flick of her wrist, Icy sent the spear hurtling towards the other witches chest. Seleena calmly stared the projectile down and just before it impacted she threw up a psychic shield strong enough to shatter the spear, sending tiny shards of ice fluttering down like snow.

"_Hmm_. Not bad," Icy admitted. "Think fast!"

Quick as a snake, Icy threw two-dozen sharp icicle darts at Seleena. Even though there were still rot monsters to contest with, the crowd below had been watching the standoff above them and there were several shouts of alarm when Seleena didn't even try to put up another psychic shield. Instead, she let the icicles hit but they flew through her like she was as thin of substance as mist.

"What the . . ?" Icy blinked in surprised, staring at the unharmed witch opposite her, so she didn't see the attack coming from behind until it collided with her back. _"Ah!"_

"Surprised yet?" Seleena snarled viciously, letting the illusion in front of Icy dissolve. _"Psychosomatic Strike!"_

Icy screeched in agony as a pain that only existed in her mind ripped through her body. However, she quickly gritted her teeth and lashed out with another blast of ice magic at the telepath, who wasn't expecting Icy to throw off her attack so easily. Luckily for Seleena the throw was wild and the Psychic Witch managed to easily dodge the attack but the simple hex Icy followed up with hit her dead on.

"Your little mind tricks aren't going to work on me, Seleena," Icy hissed. "I had Darcy desensitise me to that kind of pain years ago."

"What a charming relationship you two must have," Seleena replied snarkily, shaking off the sting from the hex. The two witches had passed the stage of staring one another down and were now in constant motion, zigging this was and that to avoid the attacks each were throwing at each other.

"Just imagine what we do to our enemies," Icy grinned maliciously.

Seleena's face was a mask but her voice was heavy with disdain. "I'm not letting you win this."

"And what are willing to risk to prevent that from happening?" Icy asked.

Seleena didn't hesitate. "Everything."

* * *

In the past, the students of Alfea, Red Fountain and Cloud Tower had fought through the entire night to hold back the Army of Decay. Today they hadn't been fighting for an hour and yet somehow it seemed to be lasting twice as long as any pervious battle.

Despite Stella and the others best efforts to keep Stormy contained, the Weather Witch had managed to break through and had gotten outside where she was literally in her element. Her crimson lightning mixed with the ice blue and silver white flashes from Icy and Seleena's magic but so far Annabelle's task force had managed to prevent Stormy from joining her sister.

"I'm gonna make you losers suffer for this!" Stormy promised, a furious light in her eyes.

"Yeah, you say that but I'm not believing it," Annabelle shot back mockingly.

"I know right?" Stella agreed. "What I think's gonna happen is that we're going to beat the crud out of you and your psycho sisters and then the three of you are going to spend they rest of your lives rotting your asses off in jail."

"See that's where you're wrong," Stormy told her, throwing another attack that was then deflected. "Once the rest of the Army of Decay get here you guys won't have a chance and then payback's gonna be fun. Go ask your little friend, Flora. I made her scream and blubber like a baby."

At that Stella saw red. "You bitch! _Supernova!"_

On the ground the fight between human and rot monster waged on. Many of the heroes that had stormed the building had rejoined the fight (Chucky and Helia included) while a few others remained behind to watch over those too weak to be of any use out on the battlefield. The rot monsters kept coming and the exhausted teenagers fought desperately without respite.

"You're a pretty good shot," Chucky noted after watching Helia take down three flying stingrays in a row, one right after the other.

Helia had originally started off with his laser string gloves but it quickly become apparent that that kind of weapon had no affect on these particular monsters so he had been forced to trade for a more effective but less familiar weapon. After learning how to aim with a whip-like weapon, however, it was easy to work out the sights of a gun.

"I try," Helia replied modestly, shooting down another monster. "How many shots do these ammo canisters hold?"

"They're magically designed. They'll probably keep shooting long after you can stand."

"I don't really wanna test that theory," Helia admitted, wiping the sweat from his brow.

As before, magic was proving to be the best weapon against the Army of Decay. Swords and guns merely broke the monster apart, only to have them rebuild themselves as quickly as they had fallen. Magic on the other hand managed to paralysis the monsters in their insect form for a few seconds before they were able to regenerate. It may not have seemed like much but to the Rebellion a few seconds of rest before they had to chop the monster down was a blessing.

"_Argh_, is it halftime yet?" Musa panted, hurling another ball of sound magic at a monster. It connected with its neck, settled for a second and then exploded, sending tiny rot insects scattering.

"I'm afraid I don't think there is a halftime," Flora smiled tragically, firing a flying stingray out of the sky.

"Well it doesn't matter because we're not giving up until this is done!" Tecna said passionately, her eyes determined.

"Right," her two friends agreed in unison.

While the Rebellion at least had some experience with the Army of Decay, they had little understanding of the rot monster-slash-animal hybrids that had been created while they were hiding out by the Tree. The hybrids could move faster across land than the rot monsters and they charged into the battle with horrific screams that were almost as terrifying as the sight of them. There were boars, foxes, magi-beavers, badgers, deer, rabbits, raccoons and even a bear and all of them had rot tentacle wiggling out from beneath their flesh. As horrifying as they were, however, they were easily taken care of. Once the animal was killed the rot insects inside it would focus on slowly absorbing the carcass instead of fighting.

"Timmy! Take them out!" Brandon ordered, watching as his geeky friend calmly shot beast after beast in their eye sockets like he had done to the boar they had encountered when they found Sky and Stella.

"Any reason why you couldn't handle them, Brandon?" Sky asked, decapitating a rot monster and booting its head as hard as he could. It sailed several meters away, the tentacles from its mouth fluttering like a banner behind it.

"Well to be honest I don't want to touch them with my broadsword," Brandon admitted, his nose scrunched up in disgust.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Those things are foul!" Brandon said and seconds later a rot infected wild turkey came running at them. "Especially that one! Get it? Foul. Fowl."

"Oh, that was so lame," Timmy criticised, picking up on Brandon's wordplay while simultaneously taking aim at the bird. The turkey's eye sockets were so small that he had no choice but to blow its whole head off. The turkey then continued running like a headless chook directly towards on of the larger rot monsters.

"Everybody's a critic," Brandon sighed tragically, slicing a rot monster across its belly and causing small rot insects to spill out onto the ground.

"Brandon, we're battling an army made up of decay," Sky pointed out. "Where do you draw the line between – "

Sky's question was cut off by something slamming into his stomach so suddenly it caused him to double over and his vision swim. And when it cleared, something was very, very wrong.

_**~Flash~**_

_It was like the world had been put into slow motion. After the frenzy of battle, the silence that greeted him gave the impression of being underwater and the slow, steady heartbeat he felt moving through him left him somewhat off balanced. _

_Opening his eyes, he saw he was hovering far above the ground and staring down at a pair of legs that weren't his own. However, the horizontally stripped black and white socks were very familiar. The black pleated skirt on his hips fluttered in the wind and long, dark hair fell into the edges of his sight. Sky's vision moved upwards, as if he was slowly straightening, to reveal a white blouse that was rapidly staining red and trembling, feminine hands pressed against his midsection._

_And perturbing from his stomach was a thick dagger of solid, glittering ice._

_Eyes continued to pan upwards and there was Icy levitating opposite him. Her hand was outstretched like she had just thrown something and there was a manic but victorious grin on her face as she started to laugh, the sound slight distorted by the swell of the life draining from him. Sky then felt his eyes roll backwards, followed by the sensation of falling. There was sky above him but his long, black hair kept flying in front of his eyes, twisting the image until the dark consumed him entirely and the **thud** of a sudden impact sounded in his ears. _

_**~Flash~**_

With a gasp, Sky's blue eyes shot open. He was back on the ground, his sword in his hand and his cape fluttering against his calves. Opposite him, he saw the turkey that Timmy had decapitated run into to larger rot monster and fall to the ground, indicating that barely a second had past. And yet his whole body was shaking like a leaf, his breathing was ragged and his arms were wrapped protectively around his middle. Glancing around him quickly, Sky saw that Brandon and Timmy were in an identical state as him and with one look at their wild, terrified eyes he knew that they had just experienced the same thing he had. He also knew one terrible and horrible truth.

Miss Seleena was dead.

And then, from somewhere behind him there, was an explosion of fire.

* * *

_**TBC.**_


	22. Chapter 22

_**A/N:** Nearing the end of this story. I've just got the epilogue to go (which I still need to finish). As I said before it ended up become a lot bigger than I was expecting but I'm really happy with the way it evolved through the course of writing it, even if I did spend too much time working on it instead of my uni assignments. I managed to get my bioscience assessment in with seven minutes to spare but I didn't leave my self enough time to do my referencing correctly so I'll probably lose some marks there. _

_Well, you know what they say kids; procrastination is like masturbation. It feels good at the time but in the end you're only screwing yourself._

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Bloom wasn't aware of it until later, but the vision she had seen of Seleena's final moments was slightly different to the one the rest of the Rebellion had experienced.

In most respects it was the same. She felt the impact and saw her sock stripped legs hovering far above the treetops below. Panning up she saw the ice dagger in her stomach and the blood seeping into her blouse. In fact it wasn't until she looked up at Icy that the vision changed from the one everyone else saw. Although Icy was laughing, she heard the sound of the witch's voice in her ear, like she was remembering something that had been said in the past.

_Why would you risk everything, Seleena? No one else is. No one else is willing to fight me one-on-one. No one else is will to risk their life so why are you?_

Barely an hour earlier Bloom had asked Seleena almost that exact question so she had known the answer. It wasn't really because Seleena wanted vengeance against the Trix, or the glory and publicity that would come to her if her Rebellion was victorious. It wasn't even because she wanted to defend her beloved little sister. It was because it was Seleena's choice to fight, and she alone choose it.

So when Bloom felt herself falling, two words sounded through the vaults of her mind as she hit the ground like a bell tolling in the dark.

_My choice_.

* * *

Bloom hovered in midair, completely numb the battle going on around her. Her breathing came through clenched teeth and her arms were still wrapped protectively around her stomach as her body shook violently with a combination of shock, grief and anger.

She had thought she had experienced shock when she had first discovered she possessed magic, and then again on the Day of The Royals when she found out that her crush had been lying to her since the day she had met him. She had thought that she had experienced grief when she learnt of the destruction of Sparx and the lost of her birth family. She had thought she had experienced anger that day in Downtown Magix when the Trix and the Cloud Tower witches had all ganged up on her friends and viciously attacked them (1). However none of that compared to the white-hot fury and anguish she felt building inside of her now and it came surging forth in a display of raw, unbridled power.

_"Icy!"_

With an explosion of blazing light accompanied by a wave of heat that was almost palpable, a column of fire shot upward in a similar fashion to the way Seleena had challenged Icy. As flames climbed into the magically enhanced clouds there was a blinding flash as the two types of magic collided and the result was like a lit match to gasoline. Stormy's cloudbank may have been reinforced with the power of the Dragon Fire but the dark clouds were rapidly becoming engulfed by Bloom's burning magic like it was a physical force. Many students below had become frozen is shock as they watched the conflicting colours battle in the burning sky.

Nevertheless, even a power conflict of that magnitude had nothing compared to what happened when Bloom and Icy collided.

Icy had seen the explosion of fire and had heard Bloom's furious scream, so she had already shielded herself with her share of the Dragon Fire when Bloom came flying at her like a blazing comet. And the impact of the two forces meeting was so intense that those on the ground far below them felt the shockwave rip through the air. The force threw the two battling girls backwards a couple of feet each but both managed to rebalance themselves before they dropped down through the sky too far.

"Looks like I've hit a nerve," Icy smirked, taking note of the fury that was pulsing beneath Bloom's skin. "And here I thought I had already finished you off."

_"You killed her!"_ Bloom hissed, her voice and breathing ragged. The grin Icy replied with was feral.

"She had it coming. Anyone stupid enough to stand up to me should be prepared to face the consequences."

_"You're a monster!"_

"I'm just getting started," Icy smirked viciously. _"Ice Coffin!"_

* * *

As Bloom and Icy clashed, Stormy's cloudbank continued to burn. At one point the whole sky looked like it was on fire and it was a breathtaking distractions for the students fighting below. Helia was still able to hit his targets but even he acknowledged that his aim wasn't as accurate as it could be, resulting in a fewer number of kill shots. And then he started to catch glances of something he hadn't seen since the day he first parachuted into Magix; patches of blue sky.

"The cloudbank's breaking up!" Helia pointed out to the other heroes fighting alongside him.

A look of exhausted bewilderment crossed Sky's face. "What does that mean for us?"

Helia didn't have to answer because a second later a familiar Black Wing jet punched through a weak spot in the clouds and then the two-way that Helia still had clipped to his shirt came to life.

_"Yeee-haaaw!"_

"Mr. Gibbs," Helia grinned, watching as the jet shot at least fifteen flying stingrays with one pass. "Welcome to the party."

_"Kid, you're still alive,"_ Caleb greeted over the radio, sounding like he was having a little bit too much fun to be appropriate.

"You sound surprised," Helia noted, watching as more jets followed Caleb's through the weakening clouds.

_"Well yeah. Why send an art student to do a Red Fountain students job?"_

"Ha!" Brandon laughed, his voice an interesting mixture of relief and hysteria. "I like the sound of that guy."

Many exhausted students paused in their fighting as they watched jets and ships finally break through the cloudbank. Their side mounted canons and machine guns quickly reduced the rot monsters to mulch and made it difficult for them to reform, giving the students a much-needed respite.

"We might actually win this," Timmy panted, as the clouds dissolved further and a large carrier-ship broke through.

* * *

Like all vermin, Stormy had a sixth sense for detecting when the ship she was on was sinking. She didn't always listen to it, but she always knew and right now she could tell that things were taking a turn for the worst.

"No. No! _No!"_ Stormy screamed as her beautiful cloudbank that had kept every military force in the universe out for the last week crumbled. She could sense that the rest of the Army of Decay were only a couple of hundred meters way from Alfea but her and her sisters had lost the advantage of numbers.

Every force in the universe was coming and they all wanted her head.

"Feeling scared?" Stella smirked, seeing the panic in Stormy's eyes. Stormy replied with a very animalistic growl.

"Let's finish this," Annabelle informed her task force, who each powered up to attack. And Stormy lashed out like the cornered and desperate creature she was.

_"Lightning Flare!"_

A flash of sudden light blinded the task force and gave Stormy the gap she needed to try and run for it. She couldn't afford to wait those few extra minutes for the Army of Decay to arrive. She needed to get to them and surround herself in a protective layer of rot. She needed to survive a little bit longer.

However a voice as hard and cold as steel stopped Stormy in her tracks. "Not so fast."

"Miss Griffin!" Stella, Annabelle and the rest of the task force exclaimed in unison.

The last few days had been rough for everyone, but the Headmistress of Cloud Tower looked like hell. While Miss Griffin's face had always been pale with dark shadows around her eyes, it now had a sunken quality about it that spoke of malnutrition, dehydration and sleep-deprivation, giving her an almost skull like appearance. Her hair was slightly dishevelled, her fingers were curled inwards like talons and there was an unnatural green glow to her eyes that promised no mercy.

Nonetheless, facing her former headmistress did not intimidate Stormy in the slightest. "You again. How'd you get out of Icy's dungeon?"

"No cell can hold me if I'm desperate enough and after what Icy did to Seleena I was _very_ desperate indeed," Miss Griffin snarled, indication that Seleena's last moments were projected to more than just Rebellion members.

"I bet," Stormy _scoff_ed. Her and her sisters had taken Griffin out twice now. She could do it again.

That cockiness was the reason why she was just as startled as the task force when Miss Griffin's magic suddenly swelled up with an intensity that no one had never felt from the Master Witch. The green glow in her eyes burned bright and cold, and they all saw magic jump across her fingertips like bolts of electricity. And when she spoke her voice was dark, deep and echoed unnaturally, sending shivers down the spines of all who heard it.

_"Shadow Sarcophagus!"_

A loud gong reverberated through the air and a large, stone coffin suddenly appeared in the air between the two witches. It stood upright on its end and its edges were decorated in what looked like bones with a human skull placed in the centre of the lid.

"What the . . ?" Stormy trailed off, struggling not show how unnerved she was by the strange, dark box, which very presences seemed to suck the warmth out of everything around it.

Stella was standing behind Stormy so she was in perfect position to see what happened next. There was a loud _crack_ as the skull split directly down its middle and the lid swung open like double-doors, revealing pitch black inside. It was the type of dark Stella remembered from her childhood, the kind that left her paralysed with fright and unwilling to leave the safety of her bed, even if it meant going to her parents room for protection. And if that wasn't creepy enough, a beat later at least fifteen sets of human-like eyes blinked opened in unison and stared out of the dark. The eyes were a variety of size – some big as saucers and others tiny pin pricks of light – and they were too tightly grouped together for them to part of anything resembling a normal face.

"W-What . . ?" Stella stammered, her voice failing her in shock. She had never witnessed magic this dark.

Even Stormy started inching back from the terrifying sight but the second she moved the eyes all focused on her. Their pupils narrowing to cat-like slits and then a thin, toothy grin that was far too wide to match even the largest eye broke through the dark. A eerie sound like a combination of bubbling water, children giggling and a noise one might imagine thousands crawling insects would produce filled the air, and it was followed by dozens of along, shadow like hands reached out if the sarcophagus towards Stormy (2).

"Get off me!" Stormy shrieked, trying to brush the hands off of her but there were too many and they quickly wrapped themselves around her, ready to drag her towards the open sarcophagus. "Get off me! Let me go! No! No! _No! Let me go!"_

"Gods," Stella sobbed, her hands covering her mouth as she tried not to scream at the horrific sight. Stormy's bravo quickly flickered out and was replaced with wild, terrified panic.

_"Help me!"_ she screamed, reaching desperately out to the fairies that were her enemy. Anything to save her from being dragged into that dark coffin. _"Help me! Noooo!"_

Stormy's shrieks were suddenly cut off as the sarcophagus' lid slammed shut with a _boom_, trapping the Weather Witch inside.

* * *

Bloom barely noticed that the battle was starting to sway the Rebellion's way. She didn't see the cloudbank breaking up. She wasn't aware of the spaceships coming through and start mowing down the rot monsters. She didn't feel the shift in magic that indicated that Stormy had been taken out.

All her attention was focused on Icy.

_"Dragon Fire Fury!"_

_"Great Dragon of Frost!"_

The two were done dancing with one another. Instead of zig-zagging back and forth throwing single shots at one another, the two teenagers hovered opposite one another, feeding all their energy into one, powerful blast. The two attacks were equally matched, resulting in two pillars of unyielding force slamming into each other. The air was electric as stray bolts of magic cracked and sizzled around them, preventing any ships from getting close, but neither girl let it break their concentration. As far as they were concerned the only thing that mattered was the raw power that they would use to destroy the other.

They were beyond throwing petty taunts at one another and were both crying out in the effort to sustain such a high level of power. However it was impossible for either of them get even the slightest advantage over the other when they were both wielding the same weapon.

As Helia had pointed out a lifetime ago, the Dragon Fire was neither good nor evil. It was power, plain and simple. It didn't have morals or agenda and in contrary to what some people may think, fighting fire with fire wasn't always an easy option. Fire was a consuming element and regardless of whom the attack came from it was still being fuelled by the same legendary power source. The two attacks – one fiery red, one ice blue – expanded and collapsed over one another, swelling in size and decreasing in stability.

And then it was too much and an explosion filled the sky before burning all the way to the ground.

* * *

"Ow," Bloom groaned, as her eyes slowly blinked open. She couldn't remember what had happened after the explosion but given that she was lying on the ground and her body was sore all over she could guess. It was impossible for her to work out on her own how long she had been unconscious but her gut told her that it hadn't been long. However the sky above her was clear and still, a vast contrast to how it had been before.

And then her hearing started coming back and Bloom heard the sounds of a crowd a small distance away from where she was lying. The people were too far way for her to make out individual words but then she heard something closer: a familiar, worried voice calling out her name.

"Bloom?! Bloom?!"

"S-Sky?" Bloom croaked, her voice sounding small and raw but Sky must have heard it because the next thing she knew he was kneeling over her.

"Bloom! Oh thank gods," Sky sighed with relief. Bloom was suddenly struck with how similar this felt to a few days ago when Sky had found her at the Standing Stones, only this time he was being very cautious as he touched her even though he looked like he wanted to scoop her up into a hug. "Okay, I need you to squeeze my hands. That's it. Now, do you feel any discomfort?"

"Yeah, I'm sore all over. Can you help me up?"

"I don't think I should. You took a bit of a fall there. My first aid training indicates that I should treat this situation as a potential spinal (3)."

"Oh, I'm fine," Bloom assured him, pushing herself up into a sitting position. Sky frowned and said her name with a protesting tone but helped steady her when she got upright. Rubbing her sore head, Bloom blinked as she took in her surrounding and the strange substance that fell from her as she moved. "What is all this?"

"Snow," Sky answered, also glancing at the trees around them. They were barren and were all covered in a thin layer of white powder, giving them an otherworldly appearance. In addition there was also a light haze and a strong scent of smoke in the air as if there had been a fire.

"Snow?"

"Yeah," Sky nodded, understanding her confusion. "When yours and Icy's attack . . . er, exploded, this wave of fire washed through the area, scorching the entire Army of Decay and anything they had suck the life out of. Y'know? Like the trees and that, but it didn't affect any of the people. Not a single strand of hair was singed."

"Well that's good. Can you imagine what Stella would have done to me if that had happened?" Bloom joked weakly.

"Oh yeah. And then after the fire burnt out it just started snowing for a bit. I think it was from Icy's Great Dragon of Frost blowing up. Helia was saying something along the lines of it being better for the Realm that way. The fire burnt everything back to a clean slate and the snow will help the forest regenerate (4). Flora seemed to agree with him."

"She's alright?"

"All your friends are. The medics are still checking everyone over and some are going to have to be transferred to hospitals for observation for a few days but it looks like everyone survived and is going to be okay. Physically, at least. I imagine everyone's going to have to go through a couple therapy sessions after this."

Bloom let out a long, ragged breathe before pointing out something Sky had overlooked. "Not everyone survived, Sky."

"Oh, right," Sky cringed, mentally berating himself for his stupid oversight.

"What happened to Icy?" Bloom asked.

"She got knocked out of the sky like you did and Faragonda got her before she regained consciousness. The Trix are all officially in custody awaiting trial."

"Ms. Faragonda's here?"

"Her and the other teachers busted out of Cloud Tower after Miss Seleena . . . well, apparently we weren't the only ones who saw Icy did. The teachers became desperate, tried things they normally would never do. It paid off. Saladin is overseeing the clean up at Alfea right now. I think Miss Griffin and Ms. Faragonda are recovering Miss Seleena's . . . h-her body."

Bloom was silent for a long moment and then when she spoke her voice was strong and determined. "I want to see her."

"Bloom, no."

"I want to see her," Bloom repeated firmly, weakly climbing to her feet. As she straightened she swayed slightly but Sky was quickly there to steady her.

"I don't think that's a memory you'll want to have," Sky tried to reason with her.

"I've collected enough bad memories this week to last me a life time," Bloom pointed out. "One more isn't going to matter in the long run."

"We both know that's not true," Sky muttered softly. It wasn't so much the quantity of nightmarish memories that was going to haunt them all, but the quality of them. "Besides, we don't even now where she is."

"I do," a new voice said. Standing in the shadow of a burnt out tree, her arms folded across her chest was Calypso. The Delta Witch had always had an unsettling presence about her but right now she was positively haunting. Her cheeks were dry but there was a vacant light to her eyes and an expressionless look on her face. Clearly that was her coping response for the death of her best friend.

Without a word, Calypso turned and walked off into the trees, her red skirt a bright beacon against the white snow. Sky and Bloom silently exchanged a look and then started after her. However they really didn't need to keep sight of Calypso to know where she went because with every step anyone took, the thin layer of snow would melt beneath their feet, revealing the charcoaled ground underneath. In a way it was a fitting stage for the place where Seleena had had her final stand; an overtone of white covering a world of black.

The further they walked the fainter the sounds from the crowd at Alfea became, until the only sound was the crunch of snow under their feet. After the chaos that had been the Rebellion's last stand, the stillness mixed with gentle sunlight breaking through the smoke haze made the world seem almost dreamlike (5). So when a voice suddenly broke the silence it was startling.

"What are you doing here?"

It was Miss Griffin who had asked the question and it had been addressed at Calypso, but the witch didn't offer any reply. Instead she planted herself on the edge of the clearing at looked back for the first time to acknowledge the couple following her.

"Bloom?" Ms. Faragonda gasped, moving forward to stop her student from seeing what was in the clearing, but it was already too late. Through the trees Bloom saw Miss Griffin standing with her arms wrapped around herself as if she was literally trying to hold herself together. The Master Witch had the gravest expression Bloom had ever seen on a person and she had looked like she had aged a decade or two since the last time Bloom had seen her. And lying on the ground at her feet was Seleena's body. A maroon cloak that Bloom knew belonged to Miss Griffin was draped over the Rebel Leader, shielding most of her body from view, but Bloom could still see sections of black hair peppered with white snow and Seleena's legs from her knees down. When Bloom saw the stripped socks an image from the Wizard of Oz flashed through her mind and she quickly clenched her eyes and teeth shut to fight off the wave of nausea that had followed. She was never going to be able to watch that film again. She felt soft but sturdy hands clasp hers and when she opened her eyes she saw Ms. Faragonda standing opposite her. "You should not be here."

"I had to see," Bloom tried to explain, pulling away from Ms. Faragonda's grasp. "I just . . . had to."

Ms. Faragonda was naturally very concerned. "It won't change anything."

"I know, but I still needed to see."

"You covered her up?" Sky questioned. He was thankful that Bloom couldn't actually see Seleena's face but there was still that small, morbid part of him that was a little curious as to what the two headmistresses had hidden (6).

"I knew my students would come looking eventually," Miss Griffin explained, her overly natural tone of voice speaking volumes about her current emotional state. Apparently Calypso wasn't the only one who managed her grief by shutting down her emotions. "Her body is remarkably undamaged after the fall. It's likely her magic automatically wrapped herself in a physic cocoon at the moment of impact, but of course by then the damage had already been done."

"So there was nothing we could have done?" Bloom asked, her eyes welling up. A part of her had been foolishly praying that the vision she had seen had been one of Seleena's illusions, but Calypso and Miss Griffins faces had dashed that hope. "Nothing we could have done to save her?"

"She knew the risks," Calypso said softly.

"Did she (7)?" Bloom asked hesitantly. This was starting to get close to the question she wanted to know the answer to but didn't necessarily want to vocalise. "She was the Lamb, right?"

"She was," Calypso nodded, and then added, "in the end."

Sky frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"Divination is a difficult art to understand. Sometimes an omen can have one, very specific meaning while others can be translated into multiple meanings," Miss Griffin explained. She may have spent the last week locked up in a dungeon but she was quick on the uptake. "A Lamb is traditionally one of the more complex signs because it signifies sacrifice but doesn't specify the form or quality of that sacrifice. It could be a literal loss of life, or the surrender of a valuable artefact or even just the implementation of time and energy."

"Over the last few days I watched the Lamb fluctuate between the destruction of the entire Realm of Magix for the sake of the rest of the Magical Universe and the lost of a single person. And even then it was constantly changing. The Lamb was Bloom, then it was her boyfriend and then it switched to one of her friends. Other times it was Annabelle, then Chucky then . . . well, you get the picture. At one point I was the Lamb," Calypso admitted sadly. "It could have be any of us, or even all of us, which is why Miss Seleena decided to face Icy like she did."

"Her choice," Bloom repeated, her voiced pained. "She shouldn't have had to make that decision. She had to die for me to do what I should have done in the first place. It should have been me. I should have – "

"Enough!" Miss Griffin snapped like a whip cutting through the air. "Don't you dare sully Seleena's sacrifice with what-should-have-been's. In another reality this may have all been avoided, but what's done is done. Now all we can do is to live with the consequences."

"Let the stricken deer go weep, the hart ungalled play. For some must watch while some must sleep," Calypso said softly, obviously quoting someone. "That's how the world goes. (8)"

Ms. Faragonda gently captured Bloom's hands once more. "I know it seems impossible right now, but day by day we will slowly begin to recover and we will all honour Seleena by remembering her sacrifice and the great witch that she was."

"She truly was," Miss Griffin agreed, a misty quality entering her eyes as she stared down at Seleena's body.

Sensing the witches wanted privacy to grieve their friend and student, Sky gave Bloom's arm a gentle tug. "C'mon. We should go find your friends before they come looking for you."

"Okay," Bloom nodded, understanding that the arrival of the rest of the Winx Club would not be very appropriate. However before they left she made a point of looking Miss Griffin in the eyes. "I'm very sorry for your loss."

A sad smile tugged at the corners of Miss Griffin's lips. "Thank you but it's a loss well all share."

And the only suitable response to that was silence.

* * *

_(1) All those events are taken from Season One; Episode One "Feels Like Magix" Episode Seventeen "Royal Heartbreak" Episode Eighteen "Senior Witches Go To Earth Episode Ninteen "The Army of Decay" and Episode Nine "Spelled"_

_(2) Once again I let Fullmetal Alchemsit influence my writing. The inside of that sarcophagus is very similar to the Gate of Truth _

_(3) I know it's a kids cartoon but there are so many times in this show were they just get up and start moving without considering possible consequences _

_(4) Being from Australia, I'm used to flora that are accustomed to regular burns so my attitude towards bushfires can be a bit complacent. They're good for our environment and we just have to accept them (although there's a difference between a bushfire and a firestorm and you just have to pray it doesn't become the latter). Clearly, the forest in Magix isn't made up of eucalyptus trees so it'll probably take longer to regenerate but that Realm needed its slate cleaned _

_(5) Over the last few months they're been doing hazard reduction burns around the mountains where I live. It's kinda annoying because your washing ends up smelling like smoke when you hang them out to dry but the way sunlight breaks though that thin layer a smoke that hangs in the air can be stunning at times. Plus, it might be a little bit wrong but I get all nostalgic when I smell a bushfire in the air. It just makes me think of Christmas, summer holidays and the release of Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring_

_(6) Also if my love affair with NCIS has taught me anything it's that interfering with a body in anyway can compromise a crime scene_

_(7) If you go back to previous chapters there are little moments that hint towards Seleena's impending sacrifice, particularly that scene where she and Bloom speak in the clearing where Calypso did her entrails reading_

_(8) That's from Shakespeare's Hamlet, although it's not an exact quote. The last bit is meant to be "So the world runs away" but that was a bit vague for what I wanted so I used it's translation. The other bit essentially means, "Let the deer that's been shot go off and weep, while the unharmed deer happily plays. For some must watch while other must sleep". I feel it refers to the different destinies people have, which is a theme I tried to explore in this story. Also I like the deer motif for reason that will be covered in the epilogue _

_**To Be Concluded . . .**_


End file.
